Two close corporations, Mokgatshelwa Projects and Trading CC (“Mokgatshelwa“) and Monnye and Khomo Construction CC (“Monnye”) have separately agreed to pay penalties for allegedly colluding with each other in relation to a Gauteng Provincial Treasury tender.
 
The tender was issued by the Gauteng Provincial Treasury for the supply and delivery of groceries and toiletries to Gauteng Provincial Government institutions and the State Information Technology Agency (“SITA”).
 
Both Mokgatshelwa and Monnye have denied contravening the Competition Act (“the Act”) but have concluded separate consent agreements with the Competition Commission (“the Commission”), wherein Mokgatshelwa agrees to pay a penalty of R499 669 and Monnye a R71 225 penalty. These consent agreements have been confirmed as orders by the Tribunal.
 
Additional commitments
 
Both firms have also undertaken to refrain from engaging in any anti-competitive conduct in contravention of the Act in future. Among others, both will also develop, implement and monitor competition law compliance programmes as part of their corporate governance policies.
 
No admission
 
Although both Mokgatshelwa and Monnye have agreed to the terms of their respective consent agreements, they do not admit that they contravened the Act, as alleged by the Commission. The Commission, in turn, has agreed to enter into the consent agreements without admissions of liability, based on, among others, the following factors, read with the remedies contained in the consent agreements:
 

 
Case background
 
The Commission’s investigation found that on or about February 2021, Mokgatshelwa and Monnye assisted each other when completing tender documents as evidenced by, among others, the similarities in their bid documents, including pricing. The Commission concluded that the conduct between the two firms amounts to collusive tendering in contravention of section 4(1)(b)(iii) of the Act.