The National Consumer Commission (NCC) is hoping that its public hearings into the timeshare industry will give rise to a single law to ‘effectively and comprehensively’ regulate the industry and give consumers the right to participate in the affairs of holiday club schemes. A Business Day report says NCC commissioner Ebrahim Mohamed has appealed to consumers to take part in the public inquiry process, which moves to Cape Town this week.

Oral submissions are preferred, with written submissions only being considered in exceptional circumstances. In a statement, Mohamed highlighted some of the problems cited during the Pretoria public hearings last week. He bemoaned the fact that the timeshare industry was not effectively regulated as different aspects of it are regulated by several different laws and organisations of the state.

‘There are currently several pieces of legislation that regulate the vacation ownership industry, which include the Consumer Protection Act and the National Credit Act, which are probably the most recent laws among the lot, as they were promulgated respectively, in 2005 and 2008.’

He added: ‘Some of the fundamental regulating legislation such as the Property Timesharing Control Act, the Share Block Schemes Control Act and the Sectional Titles Act are clearly very old legislation and probably outdated, given the many changes that have taken place in the industry and society over the many years since their promulgation.’

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