The Competition Commission (the “Commission”) has appointed Advocate Oliver Josie as the head of its newly established Cartels Division. The Cartels Division will investigate contraventions of the Competition Act constituting restrictive horizontal practices (principally price fixing, market division and collusive tendering).

Josie has extensive experience in crime risk governance, enforcement and legal practice. Prior to joining the Commission he was employed as Director of Group Forensic Services at Standard Bank Group. He investigated organised and commercial crimes as a Director with the former Scorpions.  Josie holds LLM and Masters of Business Leadership (MBL) degrees and spent 12 years of his early career with the South African Police Service.

Commenting on Josie’s appointment, Commissioner Shan Ramburuth says that the Commission has experienced a substantial increase in the number of cartel cases under investigation.  “Investigation of cartels is at the core of competition regulation because it deals with the most serious form of anticompetitive behaviour in the economy and we have confidence that Advocate Josie will help us in dealing with this."