Four firms referred to Competition Tribunal over alleged Eskom tender collusion

Cape Town - The Competition Commission on Tuesday afternoon reported that it had referred four companies to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution over alleged price fixing and collusion involving an Eskom tender worth R4.5bn.

The tender related to the supply, installation and dismantling of scaffolding and thermal insulation for all of the power utility’s 15 coal-fired power stations.

The commission is a statutory body mandated to investigate alleged unfair business practices. The tribunal, meanwhile, rules on competition matters referred to it by the commission.

The commission said its investigation found evidence of price fixing and collusion on the part of Waco Africa, acting through its division, SGB Cape; Tedoc Industries; Mtsweni Corrosion Control and Superfecta Trading 159 CC.

Waco Africa did not immediately reply to a request for comment. 

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The commission said it also found evidence of collusion on the part of three joint ventures which SGB Cape formed with each of the companies. 

In said that SGB Cape had submitted bids on its behalf and on behalf of the three joint ventures and priced the bids in such a way that it manipulated prices quoted by itself and the joint ventures.

The commission described SGB Cape as a marine and event scaffolding supplier that also does maintenance work, including thermal insulation, corrosion protection, asbestos removal and industrial plastic encapsulation.

It said that Tedoc, Mtsweni and Superfecta were all human resource companies that offer services including recruitment, placement, payroll and aother HR-related administration and management.