A hearing before South Africa’s Competition Tribunal between BATSA and JTI has commenced after JTI accused BATSA of using its market leadership to its advantage.

British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) are due to fight it out in court regarding who should be entitled to more display space in court for two weeks this month, and another two weeks in January. With at least 50 witness statements, however, the matter may not be finalised in the allotted time.
Webber Wentzel Bowens partner, Martin Versfeld, said the case hinged on the extent to which a dominant party could engage in merchandising practices to reduce the visibility of a competitors’ products.
JTI lodged a complaint with the Competition Commission on 1 October 2003, alleging that BATSA is an "overwhelmingly dominant manufacturer of cigarettes in South Africa" and that it is involved in practices aimed at excluding its competitors (including JTI) from access to the various retail channels including hotels, restaurants and cafes through which cigarettes are sold to final consumers.
BATSA’s legal director, Salim Young, denied the company abused its market dominance.
BATSA currently controls about 90 per cent of the local market and JTI has a 4.7 per cent share of the market.