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Johnathan Paoli
THE Competition Commission has confirmed that it has received hundreds of complaints from parents over the high price of school uniforms.
The National Association of School Governing Bodies has also called for schools to buy their children’s school uniforms wherever they can afford them, with spokesperson Matakanye Matakanye saying that uniforms must not be exclusively bought from one shop.
Matakanye said that the association was against ‘evergreen contracts’ between schools and particular suppliers instead calling for the need for parents to buy according to their budget.
Principal Analyst in the Advocacy Department at the Competition Commission Betty Mkatshwa said that every year they were inundated with calls from parents about this issue and it has been ongoing for some time.
She said that when schools have an exclusive arrangement with one supplier, this allows the supplier to change the quality and price of products without having to worry about competing.
Legal Officer at the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools Juané van der Merwe said that it was not necessary to have so many unique and branded uniform pieces, as this was contributing to the lack of competition.
Van der Merwe said that it should be investigated whether young children really required wearing blazers, as this was usually the most expensive piece of the uniform.
In 2021, the Competition Commission agreed that schools should abandon exclusivity with uniform suppliers.
The CC’s Karabo Mataung said that they were clear that no specific targeting of schools would take place, but that schools should not think that if they continue with this behaviour, they would not face prosecution.
Motaung said that parents who are still finding themselves forced to buy from schools or specific suppliers are welcome to lodge complaints with the commission.
The commission has previously called for guidelines promoting healthy competition among school suppliers, such as generic school uniforms that are available from many suppliers, schools to appoint more than one supplier to give parents options, exclusivity to be limited to items that the school regards as necessary to get from preselected suppliers, and exclusive agreements to last between three and five years.
Mataung said that competition between suppliers of school uniforms was important because it benefits both parents and other businesses, allowed new businesses to enter the market, and encouraged firms to offer lower prices and better-quality products.
The commission maintained that this would contribute to economic growth by creating jobs and increasing consumer choice, among other benefits.
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