The Competition Commission on Thursday carried out co-ordinated search and seizure raids at the premises of the Automatic Sprinkler Inspection Bureau (ASIB) in four provinces, as well as 25 fire control and protection services companies, including in the Durban area.
It was the largest number of premises raided in a cartel investigation in South Africa. The companies situated in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Gauteng, are involved in the supply, installation and maintenance of fire control and protection systems.
Companies in Pinetown, Springfields, Chartsworth, Stamford Hill, Windemere, and Morningside, Durban were among those raided.
The commission said it had reasonable grounds to believe that the ASIB and its members have agreements and/or are engaged in a concerted practice to fix prices and trading conditions, divide markets and tender collusively.
The commission said in a statement that ASIB rules and standards involve, among others, that the installation of the fire control and protection equipment is reserved for its members only to the exclusion of non-members, and that ASIB prohibits its members from subcontracting work to non-members.
The search and seizure raids are part of an ongoing investigation and prosecution in the sector which has already led to several Gauteng companies admitting to the conduct and settling with the commission.
“This investigation is particularly concerning because of the seemingly prominent role played by consulting engineering companies in facilitating this cartel as well as the confirmation of pervasiveness of cartels in the construction sector,” the commission’s spokesman, Sipho Ngwema, said. - ANA