Investigators from South Africa’s Competition Commission this week conducted dawn raids on three recruitment advertising firms accused of colluding to fix prices.

All three firms Human Communications, Kone Staffing Solutions, and JobVest, place job adverts across various media and process applications on behalf of their clients. Many of their clients are government departments, government agencies, and municipalities.

The raids formed part of the Commission’s investigation into alleged collusion when bidding for tenders. The firms have been accused of discussing their responses to requests for quotations and agreeing on the price at which each would tender for their services.

It is also alleged that they agreed on how to rotate advertising work between themselves. Such conduct is prohibited by South Africa’s Competition Act, as it amounts to price fixing, market division, and collusive tendering.