Commission unearths power-cable collusion, refers case to tribunal
Meetings were often held when there were significant input price changes
Photo by Duane Daws
A Competition Commission investigation, initiated in 2010 into power cables companies, has unearthed cartel conduct by four firms and its findings have been referred to Competition Tribunal for adjudication.
The probe, which included a May 6, 2010, search-and-seizure operation, concluded that Alvern Cables, South Ocean Electric Wire Company (SOEW), Tulisa Cables, and Aberdare Cables fixed selling prices to wholesalers, distributors and original-equipment manufacturers between 2001 and 2010.
However, Aberdare had been granted conditional leniency by the commission, which applies a ‘first-through-the-door’ corporate leniency policy for transgressors willing to both confess their role in breaching the Competition Act and cooperate with the commission in its investigation.
Aberdare Cables, which is part of the Altron Group, said it had co-operated fully with the commission and had also undertaken its own internal review.
"Given that Aberdare Cables continues to fully comply with the commission’s requirements as set out in the conditional immunity agreement, Aberdare Cables does not anticipate incurring any penalties as prescribed in the Competition Act," the company said in a statement.
The commission had asked the tribunal to impose an administrative penalty of 10% of yearly turnover on each of the other firms involved.
The investigation also found that, from about 2001 to at least end 2007, Aberdare agreed, with SOEW and Alvern, respectively, to divide markets by allocating customers.
The commission said Bidvest’s Voltex Group, ARB Holdings, Universal Cables, Trinity Cables, Powermac, Paragons, South Atlantic Cables and Electrobase were affected by the anticompetitive conduct.
The products affected include house, surface twin and earth wire used to distribute power to home appliances and in residential and commercial lighting.
The commission found that the firms had regular meetings and telephone conversations to discuss power-cable price adjustments. “These meetings were sometimes held at coffee shops and took place as and when there was a significant change in prices of input materials.”
The products are typically made from copper, aluminium, polyethylene, steel tape and galvanised wire.
Acting Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said the commission’s focus remained that of ensuring the market was free of anticompetitive behaviour, including “collusion which, simply put, robs the citizens of our country who are the end-users”.
“We are grateful for those that cooperate and wish to encourage citizens to be part of alerting the commission and providing us with invaluable information to help us uproot the unacceptable anticompetitive practices,” Bonakele said in a statement.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation