South Africa, July 27 -- Thousands of people enter, and a winner is drawn. The marketing team would love to announce the winner with a photograph and a celebratory post on social media.

However, the winner would rather not. She would also rather not provide the documents the promoter requires before she can redeem her prize. She does not want to do anything other than say, "Thank you" and eat her free lunch in peace (preferably in Paris).

After all, she wonders, wasn't buying the qualifying product and entering the competition enough?

Unpacking promotional competition law

South African promotional competition law is delicate. It is a layered framework of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (CPA), the Lotteries Act, 1997, and the Protect...