Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition Parks Tau says the National Consumer Commission (NCC) is monitoring the impact of Temu’s South African “warehouse” on the local retail sector.
Responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Sinawo Thambo, the minister said the NCC hasn’t received any formal complaints against Temu.
However, it is aware of concerns raised in other jurisdictions regarding issues of deceptive practices and the quality and safety of products.
“The department has noted media reports that Temu has launched its ‘local warehouse’ and the NCC shall be monitoring these developments and their impact on the domestic retail sector,”
said Tau.
He said that Temu's operations in the country had to comply with all relevant legislation, including the Consumer Protection Act.
Temu announced the launch of its local warehouse offering in July 2025, enabling it to provide shoppers with significantly faster delivery times. The marketplace tags items available from its local warehouse with a “local” or “local warehouse” label, offering delivery times of under two days, including next-day delivery.
While the Chinese e-commerce giant promotes its local warehouse on the Temu platform, it serves as a distribution network for local products sold on its platform, not a Temu-owned warehouse.
The “local” or “local warehouse” labels on products sold on the Temu platform indicate that they are stocked in domestic, third-party warehouses. Temu said it doesn’t own warehouses, but instead works with trusted third-party logistics providers.
The NCC plans to scope South Africa’s e-commerce market in the 2025/26 financial year to identify areas that require investigation under the Consumer Protection Act. The NCC will then determine if there is reasonable suspicion to launch an investigation into specific areas of the market.
Tau said his department is finalising a broad framework aimed at overcoming challenges and unlocking opportunities in the e-commerce sector.
“From a regulatory perspective, there is scope to modernise and harmonise all e-commerce related laws, including the Consumer Protection Act and the Competition Act,”
he said.
He said this will ensure the sector remains competitive, promote the participation of local firms, particularly small and medium enterprises, and ensure fair business practices.
The launch of the “local warehouse” was the company’s first major indication of further local expansion since it launched in South Africa in January 2024. Meanwhile, the aggressive, low-price business models of Chinese platforms Temu and Shein have already turned the global retail market upside down and impacted South African retailers.
So far in 2025, shares in Mr Price are down 25%, The Foschini Group (TFG) by 31%, and Truworths by 46%. Woolworths, bolstered by its sizeable Food business, is ‘only’ down 15%, while Pepkor is 10% lower.
In June, consultancy BMA published a research report commissioned by the Localisation Support Fund, which estimated that in 2024, “Shein and Temu collectively achieved approximately R7.3 billion in sales”.
This accounts for nearly 4% of the total clothing retail market and “37% of the sector’s e-commerce sales”. It says this translates to R960 million in lost local manufacturing sales and a total of 8 000 jobs (both lost and “unmaterialised”) since 2020.
Sources: Mybroadband, Moneyweb
