scholarly journals Consumer protection awareness in South Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Roger Bruce Mason ◽  

This paper addresses the lack of knowledge about awareness of consumer protection in South Africa, especially amongst disadvantaged consumers. Literature shows that there is a high correlation between the level of economic development and the awareness of consumer rights. The more developed a country is, the more aware its people will be in terms of their consumer rights. The less developed a country is, the lower the level of consumer rights awareness consumers will have. Consumers, like any other citizens of a country, have a right to be protected by the law. Private and nongovernmental organisations and the consumer councils should to ensure that the interests and rights of consumers are well protected. The study involved a literature review and an exploratory empirical study into the effect of income and education on awareness of consumer protection by a sample of Durban consumers. A strong, positive relationship between consumer protection awareness and income and education was found. Recommendations for actions which should improve consumer protection awareness amongst low income, poorly educated consumers, are suggested in, this study, while, further research to develop a deeper understanding of the problem, and are also suggested.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (8) ◽  
pp. 101-110
Author(s):  
N. N. ILYSHEVA ◽  
◽  
E. V. KARANINA ◽  
G. P. LEDKOV ◽  
E. V. BALDESKU ◽  
...  

The article deals with the problem of achieving sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to reveal the relationship between the components of sustainable development, taking into account the involvement of indigenous peoples in nature conservation. Climate change makes achieving sustainable development more difficult. Indigenous peoples are the first to feel the effects of climate change and play an important role in the environmental monitoring of their places of residence. The natural environment is the basis of life for indigenous peoples, and biological resources are the main source of food security. In the future, the importance of bioresources will increase, which is why economic development cannot be considered independently. It is assumed that the components of resilience are interrelated and influence each other. To identify this relationship, a model for the correlation of sustainable development components was developed. The model is based on the methods of correlation analysis and allows to determine the tightness of the relationship between economic development and its ecological footprint in the face of climate change. The correlation model was tested on the statistical materials of state reports on the environmental situation in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra. The approbation revealed a strong positive relationship between two components of sustainable development of the region: economy and ecology.


Author(s):  
Jayoti Das ◽  
Cassandra DiRienzo ◽  
John Burbridge

Using cross-country data from 140 countries, this empirical study extends past research by examining the impact of trust on the level of e-government. The major empirical finding of this research shows that, after controlling for the level of economic development and other socio-economic factors, trust as measured by ethnic and religious diversity, is a significant factor affecting e-government usage.


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Mabutho Sibanda ◽  
Merle Holden

Since the 1990s assets of institutional investors have remained elevated in comparison to those of deposit-taking financial institutions in South Africa. This paradigm shift in the financial markets has provoked the ongoing theoretical and empirical debate, which, on the one hand, pits institutional investors as causing financial disintermediation against, on the other hand, deposit-taking financial institutions in promoting economic development. These and other conflicting views on financial intermediation have promoted the finance-growth nexus hypothesis, which draws lessons from the Patrick (1966) demand-following and supply-leading propositions (Patrick, 1966). The study uses the Johansen (1991) co-integration tests, the vector error correction and the Granger causality approaches to establish the role played by institutional investors in the finance-growth nexus in South Africa based on quarterly data spanning 1994 to 2009. Findings suggest that a demand-following phenomenon exists in South Africa in which the growth in the institutional investors industry is dependent upon the level of economic development and banking sector development.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 550-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandi Steenkamp ◽  
Dave Lubbe

Sectional title property plays an important role in addressing the high priority housing problem in South Africa. Very little research has so far been done on the South African sectional title industry from an accounting and auditing perspective. Furthermore, sectional title legislation is often contradictory and confusing. Sectional title owners are also putting pressure on costs, bringing about unique industry challenges. These aspects do, however, provide ample opportunity for research. The aim of this article was to provide an overview of practical problems experienced by accounting and auditing practitioners regarding risks, auditing- and accounting-specific problems relating to sectional title. The literature review covered the main legal aspects relating to accounting and auditing matters of sectional title schemes, paving the way for an empirical study performed on the sectional title industry in South Africa by way of interviewing a sample of key role players in the industry. The empirical results revealed significant contradictory and confusing aspects and uncertainties in the industry. Various problems and concerns were addressed and practical recommendations were made that can be of assistance to owners, trustees, managing agents, accountants and auditing professionals. The findings can also be used as a valuable basis for further research


Author(s):  
Wenette Jacobs ◽  
Philip N Stoop ◽  
René Van Niekerk

South Africa was in need of a comprehensive framework of legislation, policies and government authorities to regulate consumer-supplier interaction. The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, which was signed by the President of the Republic of South Africa on 29 April 2009 and published in the Government Gazette on 29 April 2009, now provides an extensive framework for consumer protection and aims to develop, enhance and protect the rights of consumers and to eliminate unethical suppliers and improper business practices. Certain areas of the common law regarding consumer rights have been codified by the Act and certain unfair business practices that were previously unregulated are now governed by the Act. The Act has a wide field of application. It applies to every transaction occurring within South Africa for the supply of goods or services or the promotion of goods or services and the goods or services themselves, unless the transaction is exempted from the application of the Act. The Act also specifically regulates aspects of franchise agreements. In terms of the Act, consumers obtain several new rights and some existing rights are broadened and reinforced. These rights are: the right to equality in the consumer market; privacy; choice; disclosure and information; fair and responsible marketing; fair and honest dealing; fair, just and reasonable terms and conditions; and fair value, good quality and safety. The last right in terms of the Act deals with a supplier's accountability to consumers. The authors critically analyse and discuss these rights. It is clear that the Act is written in favour of the consumer. Various provisions of the Act make inroads into the common-law position to strengthen the position of the consumer vis-à-vis the supplier and suppliers are undoubtedly facing an onerous task to prepare to comply, and eventually attempt to comply, with the Act. Although the Act has its own interpretation clause, which provides that it must be interpreted in a manner that gives effect to the purposes of the Act, the Act poses many uncertainties and interpretational and practical challenges. Many questions are therefore raised, some of which remain unanswered. These questions illustrate some of the uncertainties concerning the scope and possible interpretation of the fundamental consumer rights.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoon Heo ◽  
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen ◽  
Nguyen Khanh Doanh

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the impacts of institutional quality on trade flows of NAFTA with a panel data set of 105 countries spanning the period 2006–2017.Design/methodology/approachWe applied the system generalized method of moment (GMM) estimator to investigate the impacts.FindingsThe results show that institutional quality is a positive and significant determinant of international trade flows of the NAFTA bloc and its trading partners. Our results also indicate that the impact of institutional quality depends on the level of economic development of NAFTA's trading partners. Specifically, the trade elasticity of institutional quality is the highest for NAFTA’s trade with middle-income countries and the lowest for NAFTA's trade with low-income countries. In the long run, the trade elasticity of institutional quality increased significantly, with the highest increase in the case of NAFTA's trade with medium-income countries and the lowest increase in the case of NAFTA's trade with low-income countries.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature in three different ways. First, we examine the differential impact of institutions on NAFTA's trade according to the level of economic development of NAFTA's trading partners. Second, we compare the differential trade elasticity of institutional quality in the long run. Finally, we support our findings through an improved research methodology by using the system GMM estimation. This method allows us to overcome the potential sample bias, omitted variable problems and endogeneity of explanatory variables.


Author(s):  
Celeste Eusébio ◽  
Mariana Pedrosa

Abstract The aims of this chapter are: (i) to identify the travel constraints of low-income families with children with disabilities (LIFWCD); (ii) to characterize the tourism experience of these families; (iii) to identify the benefits obtained from family trips; and (iv) to identify guidelines to develop social tourism programmes to promote the access of this market to tourism activities. To accomplish these aims, this chapter encompasses a literature review regarding social tourism initiatives, travel constraints and tourism experiences of LIFWCD and an empirical study. This empirical study was carried out with a group of Portuguese LIFWCD, specifically with parents, and with a group of social organizations that provide support to these families. The experience of the parents and their interpretation of their children's experiences are analysed, given their relevance in the travel decision-making process and during the trip.


Author(s):  
Lucienne Heideman

Local Economic Development (LED) is a contested concept in southern Africa, and has become synonymous with delivery of generic job-creation projects, often grant-dependent and unsustainable. Municipal LED has followed this pattern in South Africa since 1994, with little lasting success. Each local economy is unique, and has its own problems and opportunities. The ’Plugging the Leaks’ method recognizes that communities themselves know best how money enters and exits their area. By asking people to analyse their local economy as a 'leaky bucket', the method puts control back in the hands of local people, rather than external experts, and allows them to analyse their own local economy to identify gaps and opportunities for enterprise. By better networking and working collectively to improve their local economy, local communities are able to re-circulate cash internally. This circulation of cash is explained as the local multiplier effect in the workshops. A pilot process of running ‘Plugging the Leaks’ workshops in low income communities in South Africa and Namibia revealed that spending choices in these communities are severely limited in a context where there is no effective welfare state. Therefore, empowerment with this method came from the discovery of collective action and networking, rather than from individual spending choices. Local start-up business tends to be limited to survivalist and copy-cat one-person ventures, and are a last resort when formal employment is absent. In this context collective enterprise offers the necessary empowerment for people to attempt financially sustainable ventures that respond to a gap in the local economy. The pilot project is attempting to show that municipal LED staff can play the role of facilitator for initiating the enterprise-identification process and further mobilise state enterprise support agencies around the locus of LED, without crossing the line between facilitation and implementation of ’projects’.


2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-44
Author(s):  
M. N. Tillyashaykhov ◽  
O. A. Rakhimov ◽  
A. A. Adilkhodjayev ◽  
S. M. Djanklich

Relevance: GLOBOCAN 2019 reports that colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks third among mortality causes and forth among the new diagnosed cases in the world. CRC incidence is growing worldwide and in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Thus, in the Republic of Uzbekistan CRC ranks fifth in the general cancer structure and second in men. The purpose of the study was to assess of global trends in CRC epidemiology and the CRC incidence in the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2018-2019. Results: Global CRC incidence and mortality trends varied by territory and level of economic development. Gender differences were also revealed: CRC was more common in men (1.25:0.8). Conclusions: An upward trend in CRC incidence revealed in the study of CRC oncoepidemiological situation in the Republic of Uzbekistan determines the need for further studies of territorial differences and the search for CRC occurrence factors


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinrong Li ◽  
Tao Guo ◽  
Dongmei Guo

PurposeThis paper aims to study the motivations for purchasing protective products.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical microeconomic research.FindingsThe results show that comparing with ordinary families, families vulnerable to environmental conditions, including prepregnant, pregnant and postpartum families, are not intended to consume more protective products. Among the above three types of families, postpartum families consume the most, followed by pregnant families, and prepregnancy families consume the least. The results also showed that a higher level of economic development, more prevalent Internet access and higher levels of education also increase the consumption of protective products.Originality/valueNew dataset and new empirical results.


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