Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, as a member of the Western Cape delegation, I want to formally welcome the MEC hon Strachan on his first visit to our House. You are welcome.
The ACDP feels very strongly about this Bill. Though slavery has been abolished in South Africa for many years now and the Slave Lodge next to Parliament is now a museum, our people still find themselves enslaved not under physical chains and shackles, but under mental dependence on credit and debt. Our people are enslaved by debt which causes them to use their labour to service contracts thrust upon them by unscrupulous businessmen without having fully understood what they were getting into. The aim of the Consumer Protection Bill is to protect ordinary South Africans from unscrupulous credit providers and businesses. It endeavours to promote a rational and consistent framework for the regulation of consumer business interaction.
The Bill is portrayed as a bill of rights for consumers. One of the basic consumer rights which the Bill seeks to defend is the right to honest dealing and fair agreements. To achieve this goal, the Bill contains widespread provisions on the so-called "exemptions from liability and fine print".
Also a key concern addressed by this multifaceted and extensive Bill is the issue of plain language. This Bill states that all agreements for consumers must be in plain language. Thus, most, if not all South African companies, must watch what they say to their consumers and the way they say it. Companies ought to communicate with their customers in a way that is fair and easy to understand. Furthermore, all South Africans will very soon have the luxury of transacting with more confidence knowing that this new law will protect their consumer rights for everything, excluding short-term and long-term insurance.
On another note, the ACDP is concerned about one issue - the removal of a clause regarding the labelling of food containing Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs. The ACDP would like to see this clause reinstated. But in spite of this, the ACDP does support this Bill, believes that it is very good and believes that this Bill is going to benefit South Africans at grass roots level. I believe that South Africans, on a day to day basis, have been abused by businesses and that this Bill will protect them.
The ACDP supports this Bill.