“People who sell these essential products ought to appreciate that these are literally life saving items right now. They shouldn’t be exploitative and take advantage of cash strapped consumers during the worst time in our history. We will spare no effort in protecting the consumer,” said Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele.
According to the Commission from the end of March, they received “several complaints from the public against several retail stores owned by Dis-Chem for engaging in excessive pricing of face masks, specifically dusk and surgical masks,” it said.
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The referral followed an investigation by the Commission which found that Dis-Chem charged “excessive prices” on essential hygienic goods, which disadvantaged customers and consumers.
The probe established that prior to the declaration of a national state of disaster, Dis-Chem was selling the three types of masks, namely, surgical face masks blue 50PC, surgical face masks 5PC and surgical face masks foliodress blue, at far lower prices.
Surgical face mask blue 50PC had been increased by 261% from R43.47 for a unit containing 50 masks in February to R156.95 per unit of 50 masks in March, according to the Commission.
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The surgical face masks 5PC, on the other hand, were inflated by 43%. In February a unit was sold for R13.27 and was increased to R19.03 in March. These increased inflated the wholesaler’s gross margin from 20% in February to 45% in March.
The Commission asked the Tribunal to impose a maximum penalty against Dis-Chem.
