Consumers must know their rights and responsibilities
"Dundee is a semi-rural town and with that, not so many people know their consumer rights."
Consumer education is essential in today’s world and every consumer plays a vital role in the economy.
The Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs has a Consumer Affairs Division, where consumers are educated on their rights to create a ‘culture of interest, consumer protection, and information’. Assistant Director: Consumer Education, Simpiwe Zwane elaborated on this topic.
“Dundee is a semi-rural town and with that, not so many people know their consumer rights. Consumers need to understand and know their rights. In our division, we have a dedicated complaints handler who deals specifically with consumer rights complaints.”
Mr Zwane explained that according to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) 68 of 2008, which came to effect on April 1, 2011, businesses are required to respect and uphold the rights of all consumers, but consumers themselves had responsibilities in the matter. He provided a few everyday scenarios as an example.
The right to safe, high-quality goods:
Consumers have the right to high-quality food. Their responsibility is to check the goods being sold to them by suppliers are in good working order, are not expired and are without defect. Consumers should never buy expired goods, even if they are at discounted prices.
A supplier’s accountability to customers:
When a consumer lay-bys and pays a deposit, the store is liable to keep the merchandise until the customer has paid in full. Should the customer be unable to pay for their lay-by goods due to unforeseen circumstances, the customer is entitled to get back the money they have already paid.
Read this week’s Courier for a full story.
ALSO READ: Consumer rights to return goods under the Consumer Protection Act
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