Patel: Those guilty of cartel behaviour to face jail time

Directors and managers of companies who engage in collusive behaviour could soon find themselves behind bars, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel has warned.

Parliament - Directors and managers of companies who engage in collusive behaviour could soon find themselves behind bars, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel announced on Thursday.

Tabling his budget vote in Parliament, Patel said a presidential proclamation would be gazetted on Friday which would bring sections of the Competition Amendment Act into effect from May 1 “which make it a criminal offence for directors or managers of a firm to collude with their competitors to fix prices, divide markets among themselves or collude in tenders or to acquiesce in collusion and they expose themselves to time in jail if convicted.”

While several companies have been slapped with massive fines over the years for cartel behaviour, Patel said there was no statutory offence dealing with collusion.

Explaining the new provisions in the Competition Amendment Act, Patel said during a media briefing prior to his budget vote: “We want to make sure prosecutorial authorities have very clear and firm guidance from the law that help them meet the test of legality more easily.”

During his speech, Patel focused on the need for robust competition to create jobs, bolster small business development, and save poor South Africans from paying much more for goods and services.

“Cartels and abuse of market dominance results in high prices to the disadvantage of ordinary citizens and of economic efficiency and they create quasi-monopoly practices in the economy,” he said.

“Over the past twelve months, the competition authorities investigated cartels in a number of industries, including steel, auto components, glass products and in the farm supply-chains. We are taking firm steps to end cartels.”

African News Agency