Media24’s thin ‘paper trail’

There isn’t a single document to prove the existence of a secret strategy by Media24 to undercut its competitor in the market for community newspapers in the Free State Gold Fields between January 2004 and February 2009, Schalk Burger told the Competition Tribunal yesterday.

The Competition Commission referred the case to the tribunal, after investigating a complaint by Hans Steyl, former manager of

Gold-Net News ( GNN) that closed down in 2008.

The commission asked that Media24 be fined 10% of its annual turnover for abusing its dominant position in the market and predatory pricing.

Wian Bonthuyzen, former general manager of community newspapers at Media24’s Free State title Volksblad, agreed with Burger, who is acting on behalf of the publishing giant.

There is no documentary proof “that I know of”, he said. “I had a memory stick and that is what we did,” he said.

Bonthuyzen, who left Media24 in 2008 under a cloud, was crossexamined by Burger. He testified for the Competition Commission under subpoena.

Bonthuyzen earlier told the tribunal that he and his boss, Volksblad general manager the late Naas du Preez, planned a strategy to use the Media24 community newspaper Forum to drive a competitor, GNN, out of the market, while smoking together under the lapa outside the office. That was allegedly done by under-cutting

Forum’s advertising tariffs to below cost.

Tactics included giving advertisers extra value by awarding editorial space equal to 30% of the advertising space sold and giving free advertisements on the pretence that there were printing errors on previous advertisements for the same advertiser, he said.

He also said he manipulated shared costs, including office-related costs and standing hours on the printing press between different titles in order to hide the huge losses at