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JOHANNESBURG, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The South African Competition Commission conducted a search and seizure at the premises of nine fresh produce market agents on Thursday for suspected price-fixing.
The raid was done at some premises in the Pretoria and the Johannesburg markets. The raided agents are fresh produce market intermediaries between farmers and buyers of freshly produced in the country.
The Competition Commission said some agents are involved in uncompetitive behavior by undercutting the prices of smaller intermediaries by charging way below the market price for certain agreed periods of a trading day. The agents keep the prices low until small agents finish their stock and then they increase the prices.
Tembinkosi Bonakele, Competition Commissioner expressed dismay over the continued price fixing in the country saying, "The Commission is concerned with the prevalence of collusion in the food sector, as higher prices of these commodities affect the most vulnerable households. The poor spend a disproportionately high percentage of their income on food."
"Cartel activities in this sector serve to keep out emerging black farmers and agents out of the market. It is for these reasons that this sector ranks high in our priority list, and cartels, big or small, will be rooted out," he added.
The Commission conducted the raid after obtaining the search and seizure warrants from the High Court Gauteng Division. The case was reported to the Competition Commission by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. They seized information, documents, data and records that would be used in their investigation.
The suspects are accused of suppressing and driving competition out of the market. The agents are also accused of reserving certain fresh produce grades for particular buyers.
The Commission suspect the collusion to fix prices has been going on for a long time. There are 30 fresh produce market agents in the country. The top six account for about 80 percent of the fresh produce intermediaries. Enditem
