As reported today by Reuters and SA MoneyWeb, the South African government has announced that the South African Competition Commission will launch an investigation into the private healthcare sector. This is part of a larger initiative to conduct so-called “market inquiries,” on which we previously reported here and here, and which are a direct consequence of the March 2013 effective date of the South African Competition Amendment Act of 2009.

The Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said that “[v]arious stakeholders have raised concerns about pricing, costs and the state of competition and innovation in private healthcare.”

Likely affected companies are all major players in the healthcare industry, including providers such as Life Healthcare, Mediclinic International and Netcare Ltd.