By Jaco Fraser – Associate
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On 27 January 2026, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition published draft amendments to South Africa’s merger thresholds under the Competition Act.
If implemented, the changes will:
- Increase the intermediate merger thresholds to R1 billion (combined) (up from R600m) and R175 million (target) (up from R100m).
- Increase the large merger thresholds to R9.5 billion (combined) (up from R6,6B) and R280 million (target) (up from R190m).
These adjustments will likely result in fewer transactions being subject to mandatory notification, reduced regulatory red tape, and faster deal execution. By allowing competition authorities to focus on transactions with genuine competitive risk, the amendments should promote economic efficiency, improve deal certainty, and support a more business-friendly M&A environment.
That said, filing fees are also proposed to increase, R220k for intermediate mergers (up from R165k) and R735k for large mergers (up from R550k).
Public comments close on 10 March 2026.