Primary briefing · Gazette
high impact 54626 · 7437 · 2026-05-06
Draft amended Rule 39: new enforcement escalation for merger-condition breaches
Comment closes
Invalid Date
Government Notice 7437 of 6 May 2026 publishes for public comment a draft amended Rule 39 of the Competition Commission Rules, which repeals the current Rule 39 in its entirety. The replacement rule introduces a structured enforcement escalation for breaches of merger approval conditions: the Commission may issue a formal Notice Requesting Compliance (CC19) to the firm, require submission of a remedial plan within a stipulated period, and apply to the Competition Tribunal to compel compliance. Critically, the firm bears the onus of proving it has complied with the merger condition in any Tribunal application. The Commission may only revoke a merger approval under sections 15(1), 17, 59 or 60 of the Competition Act if the firm fails to comply with a Tribunal order — providing a structured escalation safeguard but raising the compliance burden on merging parties.
Who is affected
Firms operating under conditional merger approvals across all sectorsCompetition law practitionersIn-house counsel at companies with existing merger conditionsCorporate and M&A advisors What this means for practitioners
Review the draft amended Rule 39 and the new CC19 Form against any existing conditional merger approvals held by clients
Assess whether current merger-condition compliance monitoring and record-keeping is sufficient to discharge the proposed reverse onus of proof
Submit public comments by email to IGalodikwe@thedtic.gov.za within 30 business days from 6 May 2026
Brief clients with conditional merger approvals on the proposed enforcement escalation pathway and the risk of revocation for non-compliance with a Tribunal order