It's spoken as a truism that South Africa has 'too much regulation' - but it's just not true. The World Bank has rated South Africa one of the easiest companies to do business in - IN THE WORLD. 
Our labour laws are seen as onerous but that's only because they are being compared to the hellhole of exploitation that existed under appartheid - by global standards they are not particularly strict at all, in fact they are among the most lax.
It's also interesting that the 'regulation makes a country poorer' prediction doesn't hold up. Only in ONE of the world's rich countries (the USA) is deregulation a major political movement and there it has CONSISTENTLY led to increased poverty and economic suffering whenever it has been done.
In the entire rest of the rich world - markets are extremely regulated (far moreso than here) - and I would argue, this is WHY they are rich countries. Laws alone can force markets to actually benefit society.