Public hearings into land based public passenger transport sector move to Eastern Cape

Public hearings have already been held in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West.

Public hearings into the land-based public passenger transport sector move to the Eastern Cape this week, the Competition Commission said on Sunday.

"The Commission is conducting a market inquiry into the land-based public passenger transport sector to understand the general state of competition. There's a reason to believe that there are features in this sector that may prevent, distort or restrict competition," said the Commission.

The two-day hearings will kick off on Monday at Port Elizabeth's City Hall in Govan Mbeki Avenue.

The focus of the hearings will include price setting mechanisms, price regulation, route allocation, allocation of operational subsidies, transport planning and transformation in terms of ownership patterns in the land-based public passenger transport industry.

Some of the organizations and companies scheduled to testify at the hearings include representatives from Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, provincial Department of Transport and the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), among others.

Public hearings have already been held in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West.

The Commission is a statutory body constituted in terms of the Competition Act. The body is empowered to investigate, control and evaluate restrictive business practices, abuse of dominant positions and mergers in order to achieve equity and efficiency in the South African economy.