By Simone dos Santos and Megan Armstrong

GovChat is a civic-tech platform, launched in 2018, that allows South Africans to use WhatsApp to communicate with government departments, apply for grants and report municipal service breakdowns. Conflict arose in 2020 when Meta (the parent company of WhatsApp) attempted to off-load GovChat from WhatsApp, claiming violations of its data and user-protection policies. In 2022, the matter was referred to the Competition Commission, in which GovChat claimed that Meta was engaging in an abuse of dominance. The Competition Commission ruled in favour of GovChat and ordered an interim interdict to stop the proposed off-loading of the platform.

The latest interlocutory hearing at the Competition Tribunal (the “Competition Tribunal Hearing”) began on 1 December 2025, in which Meta was ordered to clarify its e-discovery process. Technology-Assisted Review (TAR) is an innovative AI tool which Meta uses in its e-discoveryprocess. Although the Competition Tribunal did not reject this tool, they demanded human-led transparency. The focus is on who defined the scope of the search, how custodians were selected and whether the process has been adequately documented. Meta complied with the Competition Tribunals request, however, GovChat argued that unless Meta discloses their entire e-discovery process, there is no reliable way to verify that all relevant documentation has been produced. The ruling was adjourned, and Meta has been required to file a comprehensive affidavit of the entire e-discovery process.

On day 2 of the Competition Tribunal Hearing, the focus was on disputes concerning discovery, the need for transparency and the extent to which a dormant company can provide. Meta’s legal representatives argued that GovChat did not fully produce all their documents during discovery and questioned whether their efforts were reasonable. GovChat stated that they are essentially a dormant company, which exists only on the books, but has no assets or documents, and that they have gone beyond the standard requirements of discovery. GovChat argued in response that certain documents could not be produced due to only certain custodians being contacted, and their emails could not be produced due to their email repository being deleted after non-payment. They further highlighted a foundational legal principle in that a sworn discovery affidavit is accepted as true unless deliberate dishonesty has been provided and, therefore, their explanation of the discovery documents must be accepted by the Tribunal. Capital Appreciation (“CA”) is the primary financer for GovChat and Meta had issued summons against CA’s CEO. GovChat argued that the summons was defective in that it does not comply with the procedural requirements and they maintained their position that they had already provided the necessary documents.

The proceedings are still ongoing, and the Tribunal has yet to rule on the discovery and summons application. As the proceedings resume, the Tribunal decisions will not only determine whether the evidence will be admissible but will also reshape how South African Competition Law will treat evidence from Big Tech companies. For civic-tech platforms, the developments will reinforce that access to public digital services such as GovChat should not be determined by a corporate decision.