Enhancing merger control to support economic growth in South Africa

Willem Boshoff ()
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Willem Boshoff: University of Stellenbosch

No 278, ERSA Working Paper Series from Economic Research Southern Africa

Abstract: Competition policy – and merger control in particular – is an important policy to support productivity and innovation, investment, and long-run economic growth. This paper argues that merger control, when compared to anti-cartel enforcement, has become dominated by discretionary policy preferences fuelled by the expansive ‘public interest’ provisions of the amended Competition Act. Drawing on theoretical and empirical evidence, the paper identifies ministerial discretion, an outsized and opaque role for public interest concerns and the introduction of “vulnerability” as factors that limit the focus of merger control on competition matters. Boshoff, W. (2026). Enhancing merger control to support economic growth in South Africa (ERSA Policy Paper No. 44). Economic Research Southern Africa. https://doi.org/10.71587/4z4q0k71

Keywords: Competition policy; merger control; public interest; industrial policy; independence; time inconsistency; equity; economic growth; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K21 L40 L52 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2026-02
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Published in ERSA Working Paper Series, February 2026, pages 26

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rza:ersawp:278

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