Competition Tribunal hands SAPS sanitiser supplier R3.5m penalty
The Competition Tribunal has imposed an administrative penalty of R3.5 on a supplier of hand sanitiser to the South African Police Service.
The penalty comes after BlueCollar Occupational Health (Pty) Ltd was found guilty of having charged the SAPS excessive prices for the urgent supply of 10 000 25l containers of hand sanitiser during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
In the order handed down on Monday, the Competition Tribunal imposed a joint administrative penalty of R3.5 million.
The tribunal found that SAPS was in desperate need of hand sanitiser during the hard lockdown.
The tribunal described BlueCollar’s conduct as "shocking " for exploiting the pandemic by charging excessively for hand sanitiser which was crucial for combatting the pandemic.
Competition Commission spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga says this was the second excessive pricing case successfully prosecuted by the commission.
"The first prosecution of price gouging in the context of public procurement relates to the April 2022 matter where another SAPS supplier, Tsutsumani Business Enterprises (“Tsutsumani”), was found guilty of price gouging in its supply of face masks in 2020. Tsutsumani was fined R3.4 million.”
The Tsutsumani matter is currently under review before the Competition Appeal Court.
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