Government loses Walmart appeal bid

The Competition Appeal Court dismissed an application on Friday by three ministers who sought to review and set aside the Competition Tribunal's approval of Walmart's R16.5bn takeover of Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM].

The court ruled against the government’s appeal to have the deal set aside, but partially upheld a separate union appeal and said about 500 previously fired workers must be reinstated.

The ruling is likely to be seen as a victory for Walmart in its plans to expand in fast-growing Africa. It is also likely to soothe local investors, who had feared the ruling would tarnish South Africa’s reputation as a business-friendly country.

The court held in favour of the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu) that 503 workers who had been retrenched were entitled to reinstatement.

The court ordered that a study should be commissioned by three experts - representing Saccawu, the ministers of economic development, trade and industry and agriculture, forestry and fisheries - and the merging parties.

The three experts must be appointed within one month of the order, and will then have a further two months to produce a report for the consideration of the court.

It must look into the best means by which South African small and medium suppliers could participate in Walmart's global value chain and thereby ensure that benefits from the merger will flow to this important sector of the economy.


South Africa’s anti-trust regulator in May approved Walmart’s bid for 51% of discounter Massmart Holdings with token conditions. That prompted the government and the main service workers union SACCAWU to launch separate appeals.


The state’s appeal centred on procedural issues during the anti-trust hearing in May. The union had argued the original conditions did not adequately address concerns about job losses.

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Another bloody nose for the ANC in court.

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