‘Evergreen’ school uniform contracts questioned

As the cost of living spirals in an ever-increasing upward trend, parents of school-going children are feeling the pinch even more when buying back-to-school items, especially uniforms.

According to the Competition Commission, it is illegal for schools to issue parents with approved supplier lists when it comes to school uniforms.

The commission says this practise eliminates competition among suppliers and often leads to price hikes.

It also places parents under financial strain and strips them of their consumer freedom.

The commission encourages parents to report such schools to them by visiting www.compcom.co.za and completing a CC1 form.

Since 2010, the Competition Commission has been monitoring schools’ adherence to school uniform guidelines and has been inundated with calls from concerned parents who are forced by schools to buy uniforms from selected suppliers.

“There has been a widespread practice by many schools who sign exclusive supply agreements with specific pre-selected suppliers of school uniform.

“These agreements are entered without any transparent competitive bidding processes as a result they substantially prevent and lessen competition,” said the commission.

This sentiment was echoed by the IFP, which said ‘evergreen’ supplier contracts were resulting in unaffordable costs for cash-strapped parents.

“We believe corruption is involved in this matter. We are against evergreen contracts between schools and particular suppliers, and want parents to buy according to their budget.

“We urge schools to call for suppliers to tender for the supply of uniforms transparently,” said IFP Provincial Spokesperson for Education Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa.

She added that school uniform guidelines were issued by the Department of Basic Education in 2015.

“Despite the guidelines, many schools still have exclusive contracts with one or two suppliers,” she said.

Madlopha-Mthethwa said many parents depend on social grants, with school uniform prices often exceeding even these.

“This results in too many children going to school without shoes, or not going to school at all because their parents can manage to buy only a few items for them,” she said.

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