Competition Commission dismisses auto-repair shops' challenge

The four companies, CarWorld, Carfill, Specialised Panel Beaters and Top Care wanted the commission to recuse itself from the case because its relationship with the authority has the appearance of bias. The companies charged that the organisational relationship between the two had blurred the lines of responsibility.

But on Wednesday, competition commissioner, Tendekani Malebeswa who presided over the case said the Competition Act had clearly established both the commission and the authority and assigned each their roles. He said the argument of bias was without merit as judicial precedent required that auto-repair shops' attorneys direct their allegation of bias to a particular commissioner.