Competition Commission to charge Dischem for price fixing

Pharmaceutical retail chain, Dischem is to be charged for the contravention of the lockdown regulations by inflating prices on some items by up to 261%  during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dischem have now hiked their prices.

5masks in one packet was R25,
Now 1mask in one packet is R20.
😭😭😭@dischem 200% profit@CyrilRamaphosa you warned this suppliers but nothing is happening instead they are worse. pic.twitter.com/1HuzXSeAiE

— BLACKS ADVOCATE (@DRCOMMENT1) April 18, 2020

The Competition Commission says it has referred the case to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution after it found that Dischem has charged excessive prices on essential items such as surgical masks.

The commission has asked the Tribunal to impose a maximum penalty against Dischem.

Earlier this week, it was reported that 24 members of staff at a branch of a pharmacy in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, had tested positive for the coronavirus. This came after the pharmacy conducted a number of tests due to one employee testing positive for the virus earlier on in the week.

During the course of the week, the pharmaceutical company recorded a coronavirus infection at the same store. It says it subsequently closed the store for deep cleaning and took the decision to test all other staff members on Tuesday, resulting in the four who tested positive for the virus, self-isolating.

On Thursday, 20 other employees who were asymptomatic tested positive after the store repeat-tested staff.

Despite the infections, Dischem says it would reopen on Friday.

In a statement, the store says its opening next week will come with a new staff complement and further deep cleaning.

It says it is screening all employees temperatures every morning as an added safety measure.

Meanwhile, the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) has expressed dissatisfaction with the measures retail stores have put in place to protect their employees.

At least 10 stores have been closed in the last seven days after staff tested positive for Covid-19.

The stores affected include Pick ‘n Pay, Spar, Shoprite, Checkers and Makro, with Dischem seemingly the worst affected.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa is standing at 3 635 with 65 deaths.

Below is a Live Tracking of the cases, death toll and other information, updated daily: