Bread Price-fixing

Bread Price Litigants address media in the wake of groundbreaking Supreme Court Appeal Judgement

In November 2010, The Black Sash, The Children's Resources Centre, COSATU (Western Cape), the National Consumer Forum and five individual bread consumers (Tasneem Bassier, Brian Mphlele, Trevor Benjamin, Nomthandazo Mvana and Farreed Albertus) launched a class action seeking unprecedented damages against colluding companies Pioneer Foods, Tiger Consumer Brands and Premier Foods.

They had been found guilty by the Competition Tribunal in 2007, following whistle blowing from within the sector and testimonies by civil society.

Acting Judge Francois van Zyl refused to grant us a class certification order to represent consumers in the Western Cape. In May 2011 we appealed against his decision but again we were turned down. Subsequently we filed a petition with the Supreme Court. 


Update 20.01.12  Read the following article by Mongalo and Nyembezi published in Obiter, 2012 Vol 33-2 (copyright Obiter): The Court Refuses to Grant a Certification Order in the Bread-cartel Class Action Cases: A closer examination of the Western Cape Judgement. 

Update:  29.11.12:  In a landmark ruling, the panel of five judges in the Supreme Court gave clear guidelines as to the requirements for class action. This has contributed significantly to shaping the legal landscape in South Africa where the legislative framework for class action of this magnitude had not previously existed.

Our application was founded on the Section 27 right to food, which still remains the moral basis for our case. However, the court stated that class action is not confined to the Bill of Rights but extends to all constitutional rights, and as such Section 34 which enshrines the right of access to court would be the fundamental legal principle at stake. The court decided that in the Bread Price Fixing Case, the class of people that we represent would be unable to afford legal fees as individuals and as such, their right to court would be best served by a class action.

As litigants we will now prepare to take our case back to the Western Cape High Court, using the guidelines set by this judgement. We anticipate that we will be awarded the class certificate and will proceed to file damages against the bread cartel. Any damages awarded by a court would be of direct and indirect benefit to the consumers as a whole, particularly poor people.

UPDATE: 14.11.12  The bread price-fixing case hearings took place at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on November 07-08. After hearing the arguments from the lawyers, the five judges reserved judgment for a later date, possibly in December.   At the heart of the arguments in Court was an application for a certificate to represent a class of all bread consumers in the Western Cape and for guidelines on procedures to conduct the trial. Our lawyers argued that, as a matter of precedent-setting principle, the Court should set a benchmark for class certification just high enough so as not to exclude ordinary people from meeting the requirements.   We remain positive that the Court will grant us a class certificate and we will continue with community mobilisation around this issue.
History of the Bread Price Class Action Case 
 
Legal Documents 

Case notes

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