Competition Commission, schools reach deal on uniform monopolies

The Competition Commission and school governing bodies (SGBs) have signed a school uniform agreement to break the exclusivity model forcing parents to buy only from certain suppliers.

Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Governing Body Foundation, the National Association of School Governing Bodies, the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools and the South African National Association of Specialised Education at a virtual event.

“The commission does not dictate to schools if they should have a uniform, only that the process of choosing suppliers should be competitive. We believe that school uniforms are an important tool in our school culture, to make children identify with the school and feel that they belong,” he said.

The MoU is the culmination of years of investigations and advocacy following complaints from parents who were forced to buy school uniforms from exclusive selected suppliers.

Parents were forced to pay higher prices and the commission began to investigate various schools and suppliers.

Bonakele said after the commission found that agreements which were still prevalent were expensive and schools were over-prescriptive, the commission concluded settlement agreements with the AdvTech Group, St Andrew’s School for Girls, Curro Schools and Inspired Schools, as well as the two largest manufacturers and suppliers of school uniforms, GRIT Procurement and McCullagh & Bothwell.

The commission’s main objective was to change inherent practices in uniform supply by getting the schools and suppliers to commit to changing their conduct and ensure more competition in the market to yield better prices.

The commission and the department issued guidelines titled Procurement of School Uniform and other Learning-Related Goods and Services.

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