Vodacom denies lying, withholding information
Despite Vodacom allegedly withholding information, the Competition Tribunal says it is still giving the mobile network operator's subsidiary the green light to acquire Global Telematics South Africa.
It said even after the full consideration of the evidence, which included the belated documentation, the Tribunal agreed that the transaction would not, on its own, result in a substantial lessening of competition.
It added, however, the only way of putting an end to "this flagrant contempt" for the law was to prosecute offenders.
Vodacom accused of misleading tribunal
The Competition Tribunal accused Vodacom of lying about its rationale in its proposed buyout of Global Telematics South Africa (GTSA), a cellphone accessory vendor.
While Vodacom’s GTSA acquisition was unconditionally approved by the Competition Tribunal, it said that the Vodacom competitiveness report was not as forthright as possible.
According to Business Report David Lewis, the tribunal's chairman, referred to the competitiveness report that had been submitted by Vodacom to support the transaction as "blatant lies".
Vodacom denies accusations
Vodacom however denies deliberately withholding information, saying that it has always ‘dealt with these bodies with the utmost respect’.
“GTSA was a willing seller and Vodacom was a willing buyer. GTSA were not compelled by Vodacom to sell to Vodacom, they chose to sell their customer base to Vodacom,” said Mr. Shameel Joosub Managing Director for Vodacom SA.
“Their customer base was controlled by two tiers of dealers. The discounts referred to were discounts between their dealers, and not discounts to their customers. Vodacom agreed to maintain these discounts for a period of up to two years so as not to compromise either the dealers or their existing customers.”
Joosub said that whilst Vodacom must accept responsibility for submitting a document late, the document in question was voluntarily submitted by Vodacom “after Vodacom itself had discovered it”. He further highlighted that this document was reviewed by both the Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal before they made their findings.
“We unequivocally deny that we deliberately withheld information from either the Competition Commission or the Competition Tribunal, or made any attempt to mislead them,” said Joosub.
“Furthermore we have a high regard for both the Competition Commission and The Competition Tribunal, and have always dealt with these bodies with the utmost respect.”
Loading ...