South Africa's Competition Commission is looking into 1 300 complaints emanating from the Covid-19 crisis.
The Head of the Commission Tembinkosi Bonakele said the complaints embroiled the whole retail sector, from big companies to small outlets, with 43% coming from Gauteng province.
He told Parliament's portfolio committee on trade and industry on Tuesday that given the flood of complaints, the commission has sought to reach settlements with retailers wherever possible, particularly in the case of small companies such as alone-standing pharmacies.
Turning to big retailers who have been accused of grossly inflating the price of face masks, in particular, he said the case of a Tshwane-based supplier who was selling face masks at a mark-up of 500% was pending before the Competition Tribunal.
The headline-making case of pharmacy chain Dis-Chem had been heard "quite swiftly" by the tribunal and the commission was now awaiting the verdict.
Two other inter-linked companies also facing charges of hiking the price of face masks to unacceptable levels, were negotiating settlements with the commission.
Bonakele said the commission had as early as March tried to impress upon retailers the importance of avoiding shortages that would lead to price increases and hurt the poor, particularly those waiting to receive welfare grants before they could shop.
He said the commission was receiving complaints against small retailers in some cases because there was a lack of understanding from consumers facing high prices. These were not in themselves a transgression, he stressed, pointing out that the entity could only act where profit margins were unacceptable.
- African News Agency (ANA)
