Will search and seizure operations bear fruit?

ARE the prices of vegetable and fruits being fixed?

This is the question the Competition Commission is investigating as it raided offices at the Durban Fresh Produce Market in Flower Road, Clairwood, yesterday.

The raid came hot on the heels of similar raids in Johannesburg and Cape Town on Thursday.

In a statement, commission spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said search and seizure operations were executed at the offices of RSA Group, Wenpro KZN (Pty) Ltd and Delta Market Agents, all based in Flower Road.

“The search and seizure operations are part of an investigation into alleged cartel conduct, reported by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The agents, which serve as intermediaries between farmers and buyers of freshly produced fruits and vegetables in South Africa, are suspected of being involved in cartel conduct in contravention of the Competition Act,” said Ngwema.

He said the commission had reasonable grounds to believe that the agents entered into an agreement and/or engaged in a concerted practice to fix the price and trading conditions for the supply of freshly produced fruits and vegetables in South Africa.

“This conduct is alleged to be ongoing and is in contravention of the provisions of section 4(1)(b)(i) of the Competition Act,” he said.

On Thursday, the commission carried out search and seizure operations at premises of nine fruit and vegetable agents in Pretoria and Johannesburg fresh produce markets, and in Cape Town yesterday three offices were raided.

An employee at the market said the entire market had been under “lockdown” from the early hours of yesterday morning, until late in the evening, while the commission carried out its search.