South Africa: Cartel case against Pistorius family to proceed

Lawyers representing Oscar Pistorius’s family in an alleged cartel case have failed to have the charges against their clients’ company dismissed.

The company — Hendrik Pistorius & Co‚ which was founded by Oscar Pistorius’s grandfather — and eight other respondents who are facing charges of collusion‚ appeared before the Competition Tribunal on Thursday.

The Pistorius company‚ which deals in agricultural lime‚ allegedly colluded with agents in the agriculture sector to have its product solemnly marketed‚ distributed and sold to farmers between 1995 and 2008.

The Commission discovered the discrepancies after one of Pistorius’s customers complained about excessive pricing‚ price discrimination‚ and price fixing.

“The respondents contravened section 4(1)(b)(i) of the (Competition) Act by entering into agreements and/or concerted practice to fix the amounts of the agents’ commissions‚” said the commission in its founding affidavit.

But the lawyers for the Pistorius family company said the matter must be dismissed as the charges fell outside of the seven years allowed for a prosecution.

They also cited the incorrect attribution of the company’s name to the charges‚ saying it was the Hendrik Pistorius Trust that was the trading company.

Full Content: Times Live

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