Tshepo Matjila, News24 User
The recent spate of exposés on anti-competitive behaviour by some of SA's largest corporate companies should not be taken lightly. Sasol is the latest company to be implicated in anti-competitive behaviour by the European Commission at their international wax business.
The company is being fined R3.7bn (half of what was originally fined) because of having co-operated with the authorities. This fine is rather miniscule if you look at the profit they turned in the 2007/08 financial year: R34bn - a 32% increase from the previous year.
The fine represents about 11% of the total operating profit that Sasol made this year - a rather small amount given that those consumers who got ripped off will not see a cent of this punitive measure nor see a reduction in the current price they are paying for this goods.
Cartels represent the bad of society as their collusion curtails free market competitiveness for small businesses and ends up hurting the most vulnerable group in the society, ie the poor. Oft these are also the people who need to use this service more frequently and the fixing of such goods and commodities hurts them where it matters most - their pockets.
First it was the milk cartels in SA, then the bread cartels, again the generic drugs mafias and now this. What is wrong with these executives? Is all they care about super-profits at the expense of the poor? Do they realise that this anti-competitive behaviour is akin to human right violation?
I mean how else is the public supposed to get the best deals on goods and services if the prices are regulated by a few rogue executives with the intentions of making a quick buck?
Just as despots are tried for human rights violations, I urge the authorities to tighten legislation around anti-competitive behaviour to make this a crime against humanity. We cannot continue to tolerate such deplorable behaviour by slapping these rogues with small fines that don?t really make a difference to their businesses.
Something more weighty and more punitive needs to be devised so that we can ensure that we uproot all evil executives from influencing prices unjustly and thus hurting the (poor) consumer!
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