Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA - Business "has been showing a slight improvement", said Cedric Zoghby, with his brother Norman, a member of Atlantic Protective Clothing cc. "However, we are going into end-of-year mode, and orders are slowing down."
      He said the year overall had been tough. "We sell to smaller businesses," he said, "and many of them have either retrenched staff or have closed down. Many of them are uncertain about next year."
      He said supply hadn't been an issue, and where there were problems, their suppliers had given them adequate warning.
      "Next year? We always hope next year will be better."

Although the business doesn't carry facemasks, she said sourcing any forms of disposable PPE from South Africa had become more difficult, and they had had to find alternative sources for some products. 

Springs, Gauteng – "I can't complain," said Cattell's Industrial Footwear owner Rob Cattell. "January was on par with last year, February was slightly up. This month will be down on last year, because it was in March last year that the first lockdown started."
      That good month last March is something of an anomaly, because safety footwear - which is all that Cattell's supplies - isn't PPE that has benefitted from the virus and the various lockdowns.
      "I do well because I have the stock," he said, "and I always have the stock. It's all about service. Some other distributors haven't been able to get stock."
      It can be a challenge: courtesy of the global shipping logjam, 450 pairs of Caterpillar boots which should have arrived last March have arrived now.
      Cattell's sources from 4 suppliers and "90% of our business" is supplying resellers.

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (March 15, 2021) – A Cape Town medical equipment supplier, accused of charging the Western Cape Department of Health excessive prices for medical examination gloves, has supplied the Department, at no charge, with 49 400 surgical masks to the same value (at cost) as the estimated “excessive profits” it generated.
      This arrangement forms part of the terms of a consent agreement between the Competition Commission and Supra Healthcare Cape Town (Pty) Ltd, which is accused of having charged the Department excessive prices for medical examination gloves around May-June 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
      Supra Healthcare does not admit that its conduct, as set out in the consent agreement, constitutes excessive pricing. However, in order to avoid protracted litigation and costs, the company has agreed to resolve the complaint on the terms set out in the consent agreement, which has been confirmed as an order of the Tribunal.
      In terms of the consent agreement:
* Supra Healthcare will immediately desist from the conduct as described in the consent agreement; and
* It will develop, implement and monitor a competition law compliance programme incorporating corporate governance. This is designed to ensure that Supra Healthcare’s employees, management, directors and agents do not contravene the Competition Act (“the Act”) in future.
      In addition, the company agreed with the Commission to provide the Department, at no charge, with 49 400 surgical masks, with  a  cost price value of R304 135 . The masks were delivered to the Department in December 2020, in light of the alarming increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the Western Cape and the correlating increased need for personal protective equipment (“PPE”).
 
Background: In June 2020, the Commission received information relating to alleged inflated prices being charged by Supra Healthcare for medical examination gloves. The Department alleged that the prices being charged were higher than the regulatory pricing guideline provided by the National Treasury. Examination gloves fall under the category of medical and hygiene supplies in the Consumer Protection Regulations. 
      The Commission investigated Supra Healthcare and found the following:
* During the Covid-19 disaster, the Department attempted to procure PPE from various suppliers by way of an open invitation to quote;
* Supra Healthcare responded to the invitation on 15 May 2020 and the Department subsequently accepted the quote for 130 000 medium examination gloves and 130 000 large examination gloves; and
* The Commission’s analysis revealed that Supra Healthcare derived a mark-up and gross profit margin on the gloves at an “unreasonably high margin” compared to the benchmark applicable to the public procurement of PPE.
      The Commission concluded that Supra Healthcare’s conduct amounts to excessive pricing in contravention of section 8(1)(a) of the Act read with regulation 4 of the Regulations. The excessive profit made by Supra Healthcare as a result of this conduct was calculated by the Commission as R304 135.

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (March 08, 2021) – A Covid-19 excessive pricing case, involving the supply of 500 000 surgical face masks to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for its employees, will start in the Tribunal today.
      Tsutsumani Business Enterprises cc supplies a variety of products, required mainly by government, through tenders issued by departments and municipalities. It is accused by the Competition Commission of charging the SAPS excessive prices for 500 000 3-ply surgical face masks in April 2020, in response to a request for quotes (RFQ) issued by the SAPS for the procurement of personal protective equipment.
      In papers before the Tribunal, the Commission says that the SAPS, given the central role that it was to play in the control of the Covid-19 pandemic, was under pressure at the time to acquire PPE for its employees as quickly as possible. In addition, the SAPS was stuck with only the suppliers who responded to the RFQ, regardless of the price. Tsutsumani was one of 18 suppliers contracted to supply the SAPS with face masks. The SAPS had wanted to procure a total of 10-million face masks at the time.
      Tsutsumani has denied the excessive pricing allegations.
      The hearing is set down for today and tomorrow. The Tribunal expects to hear submissions from both the Commission and Tsutsumani. Those wishing to follow the online proceedings are requested to contact the Tribunal’s Communications Officer to access the online hearing link. - Gillian de Gouveia, communications officer, +27 (0)82 410 1195, GillianD@comptrib.co.za