--- title: "Takealot: results, platforms market inquiry and labour inspection" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/naspers/takealot/ as_of: 2026-09-21 keywords: ["Naspers","Prosus","Tencent","Koos Bekker","Fabricio Bloisi","Keeromstraat 30 Beleggings","Naspers Beleggings","A ordinary shares","cross-holding","share repurchase programme","Media24","MultiChoice","Takealot","Avito","Kismet Capital Group","Ivan Tavrin","Competition Commission","Competition Tribunal","Just Eat Takeaway.com","PayU"] --- # Takealot: results, platforms market inquiry and labour inspection **Question.** What is the Takealot Group's place in Naspers, and what do the market inquiry, the 2022 labour inspection and the 2026 data exposure records show? **Answer.** Naspers lists the Takealot Group, which comprises Takealot.com, Superbalist.com and Mr D, among its subsidiaries, and its FY26 report states that the group achieved full-year aEBIT profitability for the first time. In the Competition Commission's Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry, news reports of 1 August 2023 say the final report found that Takealot faces a conflict of interest as marketplace operator and retailer and required it, among other remedial actions, to segregate its retail division from its marketplace; Takealot had called the provisional findings defamatory, and apart from a reported 2026 change to the Buy Box no response, challenge or implementation record was found. The Department of Employment and Labour said in September 2022 that Takealot's Kempton Park warehouse did not comply with occupational health and safety law and issued notices and compliance orders, and a June 2026 news report described an accidental e-mail exposure of drivers' and jobseekers' personal data at Takealot Fulfilment Solutions, which TFS attributed to human error. ## The Takealot Group within Naspers - Analysis: Naspers's PAIA manual (revision of May 2021) lists the Takealot Group among the various subsidiaries of Naspers. Naspers's summary from its 2024 integrated annual report states that the group houses Takealot.com, a general online retail and marketplace platform, Superbalist.com, an online apparel and footwear retailer, and Mr D, a convenience delivery platform for restaurants and groceries; the Takealot Group's own privacy statement likewise describes the group as comprising Takealot.com, Mr D and Superbalist.com. The history of the holding is given by an online encyclopedia entry, which states that in 2015 Naspers merged its South Africa-focused online retail business Kalahari.com with Takealot.com, acquiring a 46% stake in the merged company, and that by 2018 Naspers owned 96% of Takealot.com; the entry cites a news article of 25 June 2018 and elsewhere says that Naspers wholly owns Takealot.com. No Naspers filing or regulatory record in the retained material states the 2015 merger terms or the 46% and 96% holdings, and Naspers's own records give no percentage: besides the PAIA manual, its 2004 annual report, filed with the SEC, lists Kalahari.net among its trade and distribution businesses. A 2022 judgment of the Western Cape High Court cites a 2017 Competition Tribunal decision, MIH Ecommerce Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Takealot Online (RF) (Pty) Ltd (LM038May17), whose content is not in the retained record. [src-054] [src-099] [src-029] [src-037] [src-157] [src-112] - Analysis: Naspers's leadership page states that Frederik Zietsman has been with the Takealot Group since 2015, became Takealot.com CEO in March 2021 and became Chief Executive Officer of the Takealot Group on 1 February 2024, succeeding Mamongae Mahlare; a news report of 25 November 2025 quoted him, as Takealot Group CEO, saying that Takealot is built on AI, from demand forecasting to on-site search. Mr D's app terms and conditions state that its company name is Mr Delivery (Pty) Ltd, with registration number 1992/04664/07 and a physical address on the Foreshore in Cape Town, and name its office bearers as FJ Zietsman and TA Ackermann; legal notices are to be copied to a Takealot e-mail address. The registration number is reproduced as printed in the terms, whose middle block has five digits, and was not checked against the companies register in the retained record; the terms give initials only for the office bearers. [src-104] [src-003] [src-100] ## Results and reported scale - Analysis: Naspers's summary from its 2024 integrated annual report states that the Takealot Group grew GMV by 13% and revenue by 8% in local currency, that Takealot.com's marketplace seller base exceeded 10 000 active sellers in March 2024, and that Mr D reached profitability for the first time with a trading profit of US$3m. Naspers's results media release of 23 June 2025 states that the group grew GMV by 13% and revenue by 15%, and that Mr D's revenue grew 8% with an improved aEBIT of US$4m, growth being stated in local currency excluding acquisitions and disposals. For the year ended 31 March 2026 (FY26), Naspers's integrated annual report summary reports that the Takealot group grew revenue by 18% in local currency, excluding M&A, to US$1bn, achieved full-year aEBIT profitability for the first time, moving from a US$13m loss to a US$11m profit, increased aEBITDA by 86% (60% in local currency excluding M&A) to US$78m and grew group GMV by 14% to US$2bn. It reports Takealot.com revenue of US$906m, up 28% (19%), with aEBIT profit of US$7m, and Mr D revenue up 18% (11%) to US$138m with a stable aEBIT of US$4m; figures in brackets are, per the report, local currency growth excluding acquisitions and disposals, and growth compares FY26 with the year ended 31 March 2025. [src-054] [src-023] [src-006] - Analysis: Naspers's FY26 report also states that, entering FY27, the Takealot group is scaling Takealot Fulfilment Solutions (TFS) as a standalone revenue stream, monetising its existing logistics infrastructure by serving external customers across South Africa; news reports of 25 November 2025 and 4 June 2026 described TFS respectively as a newly launched business within Takealot.com and as Takealot's business-to-business fulfilment service. The report of 25 November 2025 stated that Takealot.com, including TFS, had delivered a 32% revenue increase and 16% order growth, that it had over 4.8 million active shoppers and fulfilment centres spanning 280,000 square metres, and that 30,000 SMEs traded on the Takealot Group's platforms, with over 18,000 marketplace sellers on Takealot.com, over 12,000 restaurants on Mr D and over 17,000 drivers across the group. The report does not state the period or source document of the growth rates, and they are not matched to a company filing in the retained record; Naspers's FY26 report gives full-year Takealot.com revenue up 28% (19% in local currency excluding M&A), with 15% GMV growth and 18% order growth, figures that differ from those in the news report. The report quoted Takealot Group CFO Tessa Ackerman as expecting the second half of the financial year to be profitable and, if everything went right, a profitable full year; Naspers's FY26 report later stated that the Takealot group had achieved full-year aEBIT profitability for the first time, with a US$11m profit. [src-006] [src-104] [src-096] ## The Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry (2021–2023) - Analysis: A news report of 24 February 2021 stated that the Competition Commission had published, for public comment until 12 March 2021, a draft outlining an Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry (OIPMI) into ecommerce marketplaces, online classifieds, travel and accommodation aggregators, short-term accommodation, food delivery and app stores. The draft said the Commission had reason to believe that market features impede, distort or restrict competition among the platforms, described Takealot as the largest ecommerce platform with a large marketplace facing a potential conflict of interest, and said Takealot (including Superbalist) was substantially larger than other online platforms; other platforms it named included Mr D Food, Autotrader, Property24, Uber Eats and Airbnb. These were statements of the Commission's draft scope for the inquiry, not findings. The Commission initiated the inquiry in May 2021 under section 43B(1)(a) of the Competition Act 89 of 1998, to identify market features with adverse effects on competition in business-to-consumer online platform markets, including the pricing practices, commission and discount models of online marketplaces, delivery, travel and accommodation platforms, online classifieds and app stores. According to a news report of 3 November 2021, a first round of information gathering was completed by June, an initial Statement of Issues was followed in August by a revised statement, and the public hearings were to continue until 18 November. [src-116] [src-015] [src-135] [src-044] - Analysis: At the inquiry's public hearings, reported on 3 November 2021, its chair, acting deputy commissioner James Hodge, questioned Naspers South Africa CEO Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa at length about the oversight role that Naspers, as a sizeable holding company and significant e-commerce player in South Africa, plays in the companies in which it invests, such as Takealot, OLX, Mr D and Superbalist; the report noted that Naspers also invests in eight smaller online businesses through its venture capital business, Naspers Foundry. Mahanyele-Dabengwa replied that these were issues Naspers consistently looked at, that its businesses were hyper-local and their data decentralised, so that Takealot would not have access to OLX's data, and that a number of small companies had been able to develop on the Takealot platform. In a discussion with the news outlet ahead of the inquiry she had said that Naspers was aware of South Africa's competition law but was "so far from being a dominant player". [src-015] - Analysis: At the same hearing, Hodge asked why Takealot had contested the inquiry's right to examine its relationship with the sellers on its platform and why small sellers were reluctant to appear before the inquiry because they feared victimisation by the platforms, and asked Naspers for an assurance that there would be no intimidation of or retaliation against small suppliers. These are questions and a concern raised by the inquiry chair, as reported; the report identifies no seller or incident, and no finding on victimisation appears in the retained record. Mahanyele-Dabengwa said she was not aware of such behaviour, that Naspers did not have that culture and that she could not comment further without gathering information, adding that Takealot's CEO, Kim Reid, due to appear the following week, was best placed to answer. Naspers's legal counsel, a partner of Webber Wentzel, said Naspers was not aware of the matter, that being required to give an undertaking almost assumed its guilt, and asked for more information if an allegation was being made. [src-015] - Analysis: The Commission published provisional findings and recommendations of the inquiry in July 2022. A news report of 3 November 2022 said the inquiry had identified Takealot, Mr Delivery, Property24 and AutoTrader, with the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Booking.com, Airbnb, Uber Eats, Private Property, Cars.co.za and Google Search, as leading platforms on which business users are relatively dependent. As summarised there, the Commission found that conflicts of interest arise in operating a marketplace for third-party sellers while selling own retail products and recommended an internal structural separation of retail from the marketplace, and found that fees were tailored to undermine SMEs in online classifieds, food delivery and other services, recommending a cap on fee differentials between large and small businesses, potentially at 10-15%. The provisional report itself is not in the retained record, and the findings were open to stakeholder feedback before the final report. According to the same news report, citing another outlet, Takealot said the Commission's criticism was based on weak evidence and called the findings defamatory; it argued that brick-and-mortar retailers and other e-commerce players constrained it and, as the parent company of Mr D, that it was itself constrained by restaurants' own delivery services, takeaway options and sit-down dining, describing the platforms as part of a "new economy" that generates jobs. In a gazette reported on 3 November 2022, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition extended the inquiry's completion period from 18 November 2022 to 18 February 2023, to give the Commission more time to process stakeholder feedback on the preliminary findings published in July; the final report was reported on 1 August 2023. [src-146] [src-135] [src-044] - Analysis: News reports dated 1 August 2023 said the Competition Commission had released the inquiry's final report the previous day. As reported, the report found that Takealot, which it said has a dominant share of overall online sales in South Africa, faces a conflict of interest because it sets the rules for its marketplace while competing with marketplace sellers through its Takealot Retail division, and highlighted concerns that Takealot had used monopoly tactics to gain an unfair advantage over sellers, including the unfair use of seller data by its buyers (employees) to inform decisions on Takealot's retail offering. Specific findings concerned narrow price parity preventing sellers from pricing lower on their own websites, a "Buy Box" that selected the cheapest in-stock warehouse offer rather than the cheapest offer regardless of lead time, marketplace sellers' promotional applications being materially less likely to succeed than Takealot's own retail buyers' campaigns, and failure to resolve disputes within a reasonable time, leaving sellers bearing the cost in the interim; a news report of 11 February 2026 cited the 2023 report as finding that shoppers select the Takealot Buy Box over 90% of the time. These are the Commission's findings in a market inquiry initiated under section 43B(1)(a) of the Competition Act, as reported in news reports; the final report itself is not in the retained record. No Takealot or Naspers response to the final report was found; responding to the provisional findings of July 2022, Takealot had said the Commission's criticism was based on weak evidence and had called the findings defamatory. No complaint referral, Competition Tribunal proceeding or court review arising from the findings, and no later decision on compliance with, or challenge to, them was found in the retained record. [src-044] [src-051] [src-135] [src-146] - Analysis: As remedial actions, the final report required Takealot to segregate its retail division from its marketplace operations, to prevent its retail services from accessing seller data and from unilaterally stopping sellers from competing for certain brands, to introduce a rapid dispute resolution mechanism, and to extend its employee code of conduct and independent complaints channel so that unfairly harming marketplace sellers becomes a conduct offence. It also required Takealot to implement a programme for historically disadvantaged persons (HDP) offering personalised onboarding, a waiver of subscription fees and at least R2 000 of advertising credit in the first three months, promotional rebates and HDP-specific campaigns. News reports of 1 August 2023 quoted these remedial actions from the final report and presented them as the Commission's recommendation; the Commission said platforms would be given time to implement the remedial actions depending on their complexity. No Takealot response to the remedial actions was found, and apart from the Buy Box change reported in 2026 the retained record does not show whether Takealot accepted, contested or implemented them. A news report of 11 February 2026 stated that, following the 2023 report, the Commission had ordered Takealot to re-engineer the Buy Box to reflect the cheapest option regardless of delivery time as well as the fastest option; the report said foreign sellers with longer lead times could now win the Buy Box by undercutting local merchants and showed an example with a longer lead-time item selected by default. Takealot told the outlet that all sellers, regardless of origin, face the same regulatory, tax and platform governance requirements. [src-044] [src-135] [src-051] - Analysis: Besides Takealot, the platforms named in the final report as required to implement remedial actions included Mr D Food, Property24 and AutoTrader, as well as Google, Booking.com, Apple, Uber Eats, Private Property and Cars.co.za; the report referenced competition issues and remedial actions for the online classifieds Property24, Private Property, AutoTrader and Cars.co.za, and required all the leading platforms cited to introduce a programme for historically disadvantaged persons. Naspers's group-structure page lists Takealot, Mr D Food, AutoTrader and Property24 among the South African internet and ecommerce companies it is committed to building. The news reports of 1 August 2023 do not detail the remedial actions for Property24 and AutoTrader, and no response by either was found. For food delivery, the Commission found, as reported, that independent restaurants lack negotiating power with Uber Eats and Mr D Food, resulting in higher commission fees than restaurant chains pay and forcing them to push up prices to consumers, and that local food delivery platforms competing with the two had faced restrictions on restaurant franchisees listing with them. Its recommended actions included barring restaurant chains from restricting franchisees from listing on local delivery platforms of their choice and requiring Uber Eats and Mr D Food to offer lower commission fees and improved value for independent restaurants; the final report itself is not in the retained record, and no record of implementation was found. An Uber Eats spokesperson said it had noted the findings and was assessing them before deciding what, if any, further steps to take. No Mr D response to the final report was found; responding to the provisional findings on food delivery, Takealot, as Mr D's parent company, had said it was itself constrained by restaurants' own delivery services, takeaway options and sit-down dining. [src-135] [src-044] [src-004] [src-146] ## The Buy Box after the inquiry (2026) - Analysis: The news report of 11 February 2026 also stated that Takealot marketplace merchants and customers had reported the platform being overrun with sellers from China offering lower prices and much longer delivery times, with some listings showing estimated delivery of 20 days or more while local sellers said they were held to 3-5 day lead times. The report attributed this to the Commission's 2023 ruling, arguing that after the Buy Box was re-engineered foreign sellers undercutting local merchants could win the Buy Box, and one local merchant alleged that many such sellers use local intermediaries and rotate bank accounts to stay below VAT thresholds. This is the news outlet's account and argument, based on merchants' statements and listings; the allegations about foreign sellers concern unidentified third parties and are not established in the retained record, and the Commission did not respond to the outlet by the time of publication. Takealot told the outlet that all sellers, regardless of origin, face the same regulatory, tax and platform governance requirements; a spokesperson said cross-border commerce is standard in modern e-commerce and that Takealot was responsibly piloting international sourcing channels while protecting its local ecosystem. The report said Takealot did not answer whether the Commission's rules prevented it from addressing local sellers' concerns. [src-051] ## The 2022 labour inspection at Kempton Park - Analysis: In a statement of 28 September 2022, the Department of Employment and Labour said its Inspection and Enforcement Services inspectors had found, on 27 September 2022 during joint Mega Blitz inspections in Gauteng, that Takealot was not complying with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 at its Kempton Park warehouse, where parts of the facility posed immediate danger to workers, and was in contravention of the Ergonomics, Pressure Equipment, General Administration, Hazardous Chemical Agent, Driven Machinery and General Safety Regulations. Takealot was served with a notice direction to improve its clinic facilities, create demarcated driveways inside the warehouse and improve its "warehouse risk assessment specification", and with three prohibition notices barring it from allowing contractors onsite with step-ladders without non-skid rubber, storing flammable chemicals in a general storing area or racks, and deducting money from employees for protective safety shoes; it was given 60 days from the notice to comply. These are the department's own statements of its findings and notices; its Inspector-General, Aggy Moiloa, who led the inspection, said the department was willing to assist Takealot's management to comply with labour laws. No Takealot response to the inspection or notices, and no record of compliance within the 60-day period, objection or further enforcement, was found in the retained record. [src-114] - Analysis: The department's statement of 28 September 2022 also said its inspectors had found that Takealot was not complying with the Unemployment Insurance Fund Act, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and that compliance orders were issued against the company in those respects; the statement does not specify the contraventions under these Acts, and no Takealot response or later compliance or enforcement record was found. The statement further said that about 11 undocumented foreign national employees and two employers were arrested at the Takealot warehouse site in Kempton Park during the joint blitz the department conducted with the Department of Home Affairs' Immigration Services and the South African Police Service. It does not identify the persons arrested or their employers, or say whether they were employed by Takealot, and no outcome of the arrests appears in the retained record. [src-114] ## The 2026 e-mail exposure at Takealot Fulfilment Solutions - Analysis: A news report of 4 June 2026 stated that employees of Takealot Fulfilment Solutions (TFS), Takealot's business-to-business fulfilment service, had accidentally exposed personal data of delivery drivers and jobseekers by copying an unrelated private individual into email chains for over two weeks. The recipient said they regularly received certified copies of South African and foreign national identity documents, drivers' licences, work permits and temporary visa applications, as well as internal TFS documents on driver interviews, hiring tallies and new driver numbers, and that repeated requests to be removed went unanswered. This is the news report's account, based on the recipient's statements and the emails shown to the outlet. TFS marketing head Merlin Norman said that, upon becoming aware of the error, TFS immediately escalated the matter and initiated an investigation, which found that the incident resulted from human error during the processing of driver verification-related support tickets; the relevant teams had been re-briefed on recipient verification procedures and additional process improvements were being implemented. The report said TFS did not explain exactly how the error occurred but said it intended to comply with any obligations under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), and the outlet found that the recipient's email address was similar to that of a Takealot employee. The report did not say whether the incident was notified to the Information Regulator, and no regulatory action concerning TFS was found in the retained record. [src-096] ## Sources - [src-054] Company statement source · src-054 - [src-099] Company statement source · src-099 - [src-029] Company statement source · src-029 - [src-037] Other source · src-037 - [src-157] Naspers Limited Form 6-K for October 2004 (annual report for the year ended 31 March 2004), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2004-10 - [src-112] Court record source · src-112 - [src-104] Media source · src-104 - [src-003] Company statement source · src-003 - [src-100] Company statement source · src-100 - [src-023] Company statement source · src-023 - [src-006] Company statement source · src-006 - [src-096] Media source · src-096 - [src-116] Media source · src-116 - [src-015] Media source · src-015 - [src-135] Media source · src-135 - [src-044] Media source · src-044 - [src-146] Media source · src-146 - [src-051] Media source · src-051 - [src-004] Company statement source · src-004 - [src-114] Department of Employment and Labour: three notices for non-compliance with Occupational Health and Safety regulation issued to Takealot in Gauteng (28 September 2022), South African Department of Employment and Labour, 2022-09-28