Mango evidence 'doesn't add up'

Johannesburg - An investigation into alleged price collusion between South Africa's airlines took an interesting twist on Tuesday after the Competition Commission said it had raided the offices of Mango and its parent, South African Airways.

"We received new information and based on that, we decided both companies may not have fully disclosed information that might help us in our investigation," deputy commissioner Thembinkosi Bonakele told Fin24.com.

He added that evidence from Mango didn't "add up".

The new information was obtained from documents acquired from Mango after it was subpoenaed together with the other respondents in the investigation, Bonakele said. He declined to provide more details at this stage.

"What it [the information] did tell us was that perhaps there was less disclosure on the part of these organisations," said Bonakele.

During the raid, the commission seized documents and electronic data "which will now be analysed together with other information gathered to determine whether a contravention of the Competition Act has taken place".

The Airlines Association of Southern Africa was also raided during the end of March operation.

In January, the Competition Commission announced an investigation into possible price collusion by all domestic airlines during the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

This was after a letter to other airlines - allegedly written by the joint CEO of Comair - gave the impression that there might have been an attempt to coordinate flight prices in June. All the airlines, including Mango and SAA, denied any involvement in price collusion.

According to Bonakele, all respondents were subsequently subpoenaed to file some information after the commission announced an investigation.

"Reading of the documents from Mango suggested that something was not adding up," said Bonakele. The commission therefore decided to raid it and SAA to obtain more information.

Bonakele said the commission's initial response was to subpoena the companies instead of raiding them. "You don't announce an investigation if you are going to raid."

- Fin24.com