An R800,000 fine is a bitter pill for struggling newspaper The Witness, but is a slap on the wrist for its ultimate owner, R1.2-trillion market cap behemoth Naspers.
Rival newspaper owner Caxton’s call to have this fine escalated to potentially R40m — R20m payable immediately with the threat of another R20m if any firm within the Naspers stable fails to notify the Competition Commission about any acquisitions within the next five years — was rejected by the Competition Tribunal.