Deputy Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the Council - 1) notes that on 15 March 2011, South Africa joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Consumer Rights Day and that the Consumer Protection Forum, CPF, has declared the month of March consumer month;
2) further notes that the Consumer Protection Forum has issued a report indicating that South African consumers have seen increased levels of protection, mainly due to regulatory measures introduced across different industries, including the National Credit Act, Act 34 of 2005, and the Consumer Protection Act, Act 68 of 2008;
3) also notes that during the quarter ending December 2010, more than 2 332 consumer complaints were finalised, resulting in more than R18 million being put back into consumers' pockets;
4) acknowledges that consumer complaints trends show that furniture shops and cellphone companies, especially those using illegal methods to sell airtime to our people, are the leading violators of consumer rights in South Africa; and
5) takes this opportunity to congratulate the Consumer Protection Forum and other consumer protection agencies in South Africa for their outstanding work of putting an end to the manipulative and illegal practices of unscrupulous companies that have no regard for the rights of our people. Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.