Nationwide vs SAA
Found this in Online Business Report:
Nationwide's complaint against SAA at long last to be heard
August 16, 2004
By Ann Crotty
Johannesburg - SAA is scheduled to appear before the competition tribunal this week in a case that was originally brought to the competition authorities in April 2000.
The case, brought by Nationwide, has made history as it marks the longest delay between the date of initial filing and an appearance before the tribunal.
The case relates to the incentives that SAA, a dominant carrier, provides to travel agents.
The delaying tactics used by SAA appear to be motivated by the hefty penalties the airline faces if the tribunal finds against it.
The competition commission, which has referred the matter to the tribunal after investigating Nationwide's complaints, has requested that the tribunal impose an administrative penalty on SAA of 10 percent of turnover plus interest to the date of payment.
The commission has also requested the tribunal to order that the incentive scheme is an abuse of dominance in terms of the act and to declare all agreements with travel agents void.
The case was originally lodged with the tribunal in 2001 but was held up due to review proceedings taken to the high court as well as the hearing of various interlocutory applications.
The proceedings, which kick off today and are scheduled to run for the week, will be the first time that the tribunal hears arguments relating to the substance of the case brought by Nationwide against SAA.
The tribunal was due to hear the case in April this year but those proceedings were postponed when SAA decided to appeal a tribunal decision to the competition appeal court.
The tribunal's decision related to SAA's application for a postponement of the case so that a similar case brought against SAA by Comair would be consolidated and heard simultaneously with the Nationwide case.
As the Comair case had only been filed with the commission in October last year, a consolidation of the two cases would have involved a further considerable delay.
The appeal court, therefore, dismissed SAA's application.
After investigating Nationwide's complaint, the commission referred the matter to the tribunal.
It made the referral on the grounds that SAA, a dominant firm, was offering incentive commissions to travel agents, as well as incentives to travel agent consultants in the form of travel bonuses, in contravention of the Competition Act.
In April, SAA's legal team notified the tribunal of its intention to further delay the matter.
At that point, the extent of the commission's frustration became more than apparent.
Counsel for the commission remarked: "If this hearing is postponed now, then SAA will be able to postpone it for years and years.
"It has got to the stage that these heads of arguments will have to be bequeathed to my six-year-old son for him to argue."