The Competition Tribunal has found Dis-Chem Pharmacies Limited guilty of charging excessive prices for surgical face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dis-Chem was also ordered to pay a fine of R1 200 000.
The Tribunal found that Dis-Chem contravened section 8(1)(a) of the Competition Act (the Act) in that it charged an excessive price for three types of surgical face masks (SFM 50, SFM 5 and Folio50) to the detriment of consumers during March 2020.
The Tribunal considered the background to the Covid-19 pandemic as the economic context in which Dis-Chem had increased its prices on three occasions.
The Tribunal says even though the first case of Covid-19 in South Africa was only reported on the 5 March and the National Disaster proclaimed on 15 March 2020, South Africans were already affected by the rampant spread of Covid-19 from January, with global supply chains being disrupted, international travel and events being cancelled.
"Fears of infection already started to influence consumer behaviour in January and February. It is common knowledge that the Covid-19 outbreak has led to an increase in global demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) of which surgical masks constitute an essential component. This increase in demand is reflected in the massive increases in Dis-Chem’s own sales volumes from January onward.” it said.
