Of course this is by no means the first collusion and price fixing scandal to occur in South Africa. We have had the bread cartel bust, which involved most of our large millers and bakers. Sasol has been caught out fixing prices around the world. Telkom was set straight by the competition authorities after serial failures by both the relevant ministry and the supposedly Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to rein in their profit gouging business practices. We have had concrete and wire products manufacturers caught out on similar grounds. And on it goes. In fact South Africa spawned one of the worlds greatest cartels, that of the diamond cartel known as De Beers, set up by delightful individuals like Cecil Rhodes, JP Morgan, the Rothschild’s and of course the Oppenheimers. Even during the depths of apartheid, De Beers controlled the global diamond market, bringing the dreaded USSR and even independent African nations within its sphere of control. Interestingly the De Beers cartel was only really actively prosecuted in the US, where it recently settled without admitting liability. In diamond rich nations like Botswana and Namibia, it simply colludes with the state to control the market for what are essentially hard, pretty stones with no other intrinsic value. De Beers is a classic case of market and resource consolidation and collusion, as taught at business schools and emulated wherever possible in the business world. sacsis.org.za/site/article/1734
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 18:10:16 +0000
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