Name: A Guide to the Consumer Protection Act
Author: Evert van Eeden
Publisher: Lexis Nexis
Price: R598.50 (Incl Vat)
South Africa’s Consumer Protection Act has now been published and will become effective in two phases during 2010, a certain section in April 2010 and the rest most likely by October.
I therefore started reading this book with great interest.
The first few chapters cover consumer rights from a historical perspective and look at issues such as welfare, economic regulations and the purpose of the legislation. The application of the Consumer Protection Act as well as its history with regard to common (private) and public law is then discussed in detail. Admittedly it is at times difficult to read as it uses terminology that is not used by the average person, but it does provide an interesting background to laws and why and how they have evolved over time to what they are today.
The actual detail regarding the Act starts from Chapter 6, but it does provide a summary of all the different types of transactions and issues covered by the Act, as well as interesting references to international consumer legislation.
This book is not a bed-time read because of detailed content, however, it does provide the audience with important information and I believe it will be relevant to business owners, legal practitioners and accountants who are required to study the impact and prepare for the adoption of the Consumer Protection Act, as the new Act will have an effect on how businesses market and advertise their goods and services as well as on the structuring of contracts and agreements.
The book also has the added advantage of providing a copy of the Act at the back; so all your reference material is included in one book. The only information to be added will be the Regulations, once published.
Reviewed by Juanita Steenekamp
Name: Going Green
Author: Simon Gear
Publisher: Penguin Books
Price: R140.00
Imagine if you will, a world where everyone did his or her bit to save the environment. Imagine that you and I grew our own vegetables, gave up smoking, took a bicycle ride to work instead of the petrol guzzling car, brewed our own beer, used recycled paper and gave seeds or plants to friends and family as gifts. It may not all sound feasible given our city-like lifestyles, but these are really good tips from Simon Gear, in his new book Going Green, that we can at least try in order to do our bit. In Going Green, Gear gives us 365 tips on saving the environment. They’re easy tips, and we encourage you to try some of them out. I know I am going to.
Reviewed by Patiswa Jwacu
