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The Constitutional Court will hear argument on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 on the Competition Commission’s application for leave to appeal against a judgment of the Competition Appeal Court (CAC), the court said on Monday.

The commission wants to add the name of another company in a complaint of anti-competitive behaviour in the polyurethane foam industry

However, the CAC overturned a decision of the Competition Tribunal that allowed the Competition Commission to amend its original complaint.

The companies accused of anti-competitive behaviour are:

Loungefoam (Pty) Ltd, GommaGomma (Pty) Ltd, Vitafoam SA (Pty) Ltd, Steinhoff Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Steinhoff International Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Feltex Holdings (Pty) Ltd, and Kap International Holdings (Pty) Ltd.

The commission initiated three separate complaints against them and, following investigation, submitted a referral to the Tribunal.

In that referral there was no complaint against Steinhoff Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd.

The Tribunal later granted the commission permission to amend its original referral to include Steinhoff Africa. It was also given permission to expand charges against Steinhoff International, Feltex and Kap International.

The Competition Appeal Court, however, overturned this decision.

The commission says modifying a referral, as it did, is legal but it wants the Constitutional Court to clear the matter up.

The law according to the commission must be interpreted broadly and inclusively.

The foam companies say that only the initiated complaint can be referred to the Tribunal for adjudication. In other words, the referral is confined to the facts and allegations in the original complaint. - Sapa