Consumer Protection Act, including the liability you cannot contract out of
Section 61 imposes liability for harm caused by unsafe or defective goods without the consumer needing to prove negligence, and it reaches everyone in the supply chain. No disclaimer removes it. What reduces exposure is evidence of the systems behind the product.
What the Consumer Protection Act requires
The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 sets out fundamental consumer rights and the corresponding supplier duties. It applies to transactions in the ordinary course of business within South Africa, with some exclusions including transactions above the threshold for juristic persons. It is enforced by the National Consumer Commission, adjudicated by the National Consumer Tribunal, and supplemented by accredited industry ombud schemes.
The rights are grouped into themes: equality in the consumer market, privacy including the right to restrict unwanted direct marketing, choice including cooling-off and cancellation rights, disclosure and information including plain and understandable language, fair and responsible marketing, fair and honest dealing, fair, just and reasonable terms and conditions, and fair value, good quality and safety. Each carries specific supplier obligations rather than general aspiration.
Section 61 is the provision with the sharpest edge. A producer, importer, distributor or retailer is liable for harm caused wholly or partly as a consequence of supplying unsafe goods, a product failure, defect or hazard, or inadequate instructions or warnings, irrespective of whether the harm resulted from negligence. Liability is joint and several across the supply chain. There are defences, but they are narrow, and a contractual disclaimer is not among them.
The obligations Dimeri tracks
Dimeri holds the supplier duties as obligations with owners and evidence, and the complaint trail that shows how issues were handled.
Plain language and notices
Documents in plain and understandable language, with terms that limit liability, impose risk or constitute an acknowledgement drawn to the consumer's attention.
- Consumer documents held with review dates
- Plain language assessment recorded per document
- Section 49 terms flagged and their notice evidenced
- Version history retained against each template
Cooling-off and cancellation
The right to cancel a direct marketing transaction within the cooling-off period, and to cancel advance reservations subject to reasonable charges.
- Cancellation requests logged with dates
- Refund timelines tracked against the section
- Cancellation charges assessed for reasonableness
- Direct marketing transactions identified as such
Unfair terms and prohibited provisions
Terms that are unfair, unreasonable or unjust, and the provisions section 51 prohibits outright in any consumer agreement.
- Contract templates reviewed against both sections
- Prohibited provisions removed and the review evidenced
- Legal sign-off recorded per template version
- Reassessment scheduled rather than left to renewal
Quality, safety and the implied warranty
The right to safe, good quality goods and the six month implied warranty allowing repair, replacement or refund at the consumer's election.
- Returns and warranty claims logged with outcomes
- Consumer election recorded, not assumed
- Recurring defects trended by product and batch
- Supplier recovery tracked where applicable
Product liability
Liability for harm from unsafe goods, product failure, defect, hazard or inadequate instructions, without proof of negligence, joint and several across the chain.
- Product safety risks held in the risk register
- Instructions and warnings reviewed and versioned
- Recall process with owners and trigger criteria
- Supplier indemnities and insurance tracked
Complaints and redress
The routes available to consumers, including the supplier's own process, accredited ombud schemes, provincial regulators and the Commission.
- Complaint register with source, outcome and timing
- Ombud and Commission referrals tracked
- Root cause analysis across recurring complaints
- Reporting to management on complaint trends
How Dimeri covers Consumer Protection Act
Consumer exposure is rarely one transaction. It is a template used ten thousand times or a defect repeated across a batch.
Templates reviewed and versioned
Standard terms, notices and consumer documents are held with versions, review dates and the legal sign-off behind each. A single unfair term in a widely used template is the most efficient way to create systemic exposure.
Complaints that surface a pattern
Individual complaints resolve. The same defect appearing across a batch or a channel only becomes visible when complaints share a structure, and that is what precedes a recall decision.
Product safety in the risk register
Section 61 liability is strict, so the defensible position is evidence of the systems behind the product: design review, testing, warnings, supplier controls. Those sit as controls against product safety risks.
Shared ground with POPIA
The consumer's right to restrict unwanted direct marketing under the CPA overlaps with POPIA's direct marketing provisions. The same opt-out record serves both.
Getting Consumer Protection coverage in place
- 1
Establish what applies
Which transactions fall within the Act, and where the juristic person threshold or another exclusion applies. This determines the scope of everything downstream.
- 2
Review the document set
Standard terms, notices, marketing material and consumer-facing documents are assessed against the plain language requirement, section 48 fairness and the section 51 prohibitions, with the review recorded.
- 3
Connect complaints to products
Complaints, returns and warranty claims are captured with enough structure to trend by product, batch and channel, which is what turns individual resolutions into a safety signal.
- 4
Prepare the recall path
Trigger criteria, owners and communication steps for a recall are defined before one is needed, since the decision window during an actual product safety event is short.
Consumer Protection Act questions
Can we disclaim liability under section 61?
No. Section 61 imposes liability for harm from unsafe goods, product failure, defects, hazards or inadequate instructions irrespective of negligence, and it is joint and several across producer, importer, distributor and retailer. The Act contains specific defences, but a contractual disclaimer is not one of them.
Does the Act apply to business customers?
Not always. Transactions where the consumer is a juristic person whose asset value or annual turnover exceeds the threshold determined by the Minister fall outside the Act. That threshold and its application should be confirmed with your legal advisers, since it determines whether the Act applies to a large part of many B2B books.
What is the six month implied warranty?
Section 56 gives the consumer the right to return goods within six months of delivery if they fail to satisfy the quality requirements in section 55, and to choose whether they want a repair, replacement or refund. The choice belongs to the consumer, not the supplier, which is the part most commonly got wrong in practice.
Where do consumers complain?
Section 69 sets out the routes, which include the supplier's own process, an accredited industry ombud where one exists for the sector, provincial consumer authorities, the National Consumer Commission and ultimately the National Consumer Tribunal. Tracking which route a complaint took matters, because the timelines and consequences differ.
Is this a substitute for legal advice?
No. The CPA's application depends on the nature of the transaction and the parties, and section 61 exposure is significant. Your legal advisers should confirm what applies to your business.
Go further on Consumer Protection Act
Put Consumer Protection Act on one register
Every requirement mapped to a control with a named owner, the evidence held against it, and one view of where you stand.