Consumers & the Competition Board

Tiger Brands were found guilty of price fixing and got a hefty fine. So did Sasol not so long ago. Now Sasol is once again in trouble and will probably have to pay another fine. Why is this money going to government? They actually made money out of this as well through a higher sales tax that the consumer had to pay all those years. What happens to that money at the end of the day - part of the Zimbabwe bail-out money perhaps?

This money should go into an independently administered account and should be applied in projects to uplift the poor communities who suffered the most out of these price fixing schemes. I wonder what would happen if these guys were ordered by the competitions board to repay the consumer? It will probably cost them more than the fine imposed on them.

And it's not only Tiger Brands and Sasol. The whole industry is rotten. Cashbuild claimed that their building material suppliers increased there prices by the same margin at the same time. Murray and Roberts and Aveng has agreed on pricing on their pre-cast concrete products. And the consumer just suffers?

This is why there are structures and organisations in place, to protect the consumer.

Yet, it carries on. Food pricing has not come down but instead keep on going up. Where will it all end?