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A company that charged the South African Police Service excessive prices for an urgent supply of 500 000 masks during the initial lockdown, has been slapped with an administrative penalty of R3.4 million.
Tsutsumani Business Enterprises is the first case referred to the Competition Tribunal in the context of a tender process during the pandemic.
The company, based in Gauteng, denied the excessive pricing allegation.
A spokesperson for the Tribunal Gillian de Gouveia says Tsutsumani did enjoy market power during the complaint period and was dominant in the market for emergency procurement of masks by SAPS.
She says it is also the first case that falls to be determined under the Consumer Protection Regulations, read with section 8(1)(a) of the Act.
SAPS needed an urgent supply of 3-ply surgical face masks during April 2020.
This was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the National State of Disaster which required all SAPS staff to wear masks. SAPS required nine million masks per month for use by its staff in the frontline of combating the coronavirus during the lockdown.
