Today, 14 October 2015, the Competition Commission is carrying out dawn raids on AFROX, Oryx Oil, EasiGas and the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Safety Association of Southern Africa (LPG Association) in Gauteng and KayaGas (Pty) Ltd and Totalgaz in the Western Cape. 

These firms compete in the market for the supply of LPG and gas cylinders. The LPG Association is a trade association of firms involved at various levels in the LPG industry.

The most interesting thing about the dawn raid is that it takes place in the context of the ongoing market inquiry being carried out by the Commission into the LPG market.  The Commission claims that the dawn raid is unrelated to its market inquiry and is part of an investigation into alleged price-fixing of the prices or deposits payable for gas cylinders.

For those firms involved in the healthcare sector which is also the subject of an ongoing market inquiry, these dawn raids may be a sign of things to come.