Competition Commission slams critics, but it has a case to answer
The commission is doing itself no favours by attacking its critics
At a parliamentary committee hearing last week, Competition Commission head Tembinkosi Bonakele lashed out at the "interference" by politicians and "bias" of the media which have been probing the commission’s conduct. Interrogated by the portfolio committee on economic development, Bonakele grew rattled and appeared to resent questions about the commission’s briefing patterns, expenditure and VIP security. However, data supplied by the commission in response to a series of parliamentary questions by DA MP Michael Cardo suggests that the commission does indeed have a case to answer. The first is that one law firm, Ndzabandzaba Attorneys, has raked in R72m from the commission in the three and a half years since January 2015. (The FM previously reported that the firm received R10.5m over 18 months.) Headed by Anthony Ndzabandzaba, a former section head in the commission’s cartels division, the Bryanston law firm was channelled 31 out of 44 of the cartel cases outsourced by the commissi...
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