Delegates at last week’s National Anti-Corruption Summit supported moves to make price-fixing a crime — despite opposition from the Competition Commission.
The summit, held in Boksburg, also resolved that companies found guilty of the practice should be prevented from bidding for state business, and called on Parliament to ”expedite the regulation of transparency in party political funding and to consider a sanctions mechanism”.
It also called for ethics to be made part of education curricula ”at all levels”.
The two-day summit was held under the auspices of the National Anti-Corruption Forum, which brings together business, government and civil society groups involved in the field. It is chaired by Public Service Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, although it is not a statutory body.
Dealing with price-fixing, public service commissioner Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko said it was ”not only about corporate governance, it is a practice that is subversive of economic transformation”.
In a panel discussion on the issue, speaker after speaker called for strong sanctions on individuals in companies found guilty of price-fixing or similar offences, such as those unearthed in Tiger Brands, Adcock Ingram and others.
The Competition Commission’s Nandi Mokoena told delegates that her organisation regarded price-fixing as ”theft”.
But when pressed on the issue of holding directors of offending companies criminally liable, Mokoena referred to the commission’s submission to Parliament about legislation intended to give it more powers.
The Competition Amendment Bill, now before Parliament for public hearings, among other things proposes that directors of colluding companies should be held criminally liable for their companies’ behaviour and face fines of up to R500 000 or 10 years in jail.
The commission opposes the provision on the grounds that it will weaken rather than strengthen its work. It argues that its current approach uses the framework of civil law, where the burden of proof is less stringent than in criminal law.
It says the draft Bill is unlikely to pass constitutional muster, and that the commission lacks the capacity to deal with criminal investigations.
Giving the responsibility to an already overburdened criminal justice system would be fatal, it says. The change might also discourage firms from making use of its corporate leniency policy, similar to the plea bargain system, which it credits for much of its success.
Dealing with party funding, the summit also urged parties to disclose business interests, and called for ”swift regulation of post-public sector employment for all elected and appointed public officials and its implementation”.