Pretoria - The days of uncompetitive conduct with regards to the sale of school uniforms have come to an end.
Yesterday, the Competition Commission announced that it had finally made progress in the time-honoured call for making school uniforms affordable for everyone.
The commission's tribunal said a consent of agreement had been entered into with various schools yesterday in this regard.
In terms of the agreement, the parties will adhere to competitive behaviours and reduce the pricing of school uniforms.
The announcement was made during the Competition Commission’s report-back on anti-competitive behaviour in the school uniform industry. It was also announced that the agreement bound schools to contract uniform suppliers through transparent and competitive bidding processes.
Agreements will also be for a limited period, and the commission ultimately wants to see more affordable school uniforms on offer.
Various school associations committed to limit exclusivity, give parents options by appointing more than one supplier. They also pledged to follow a competitive bidding process when appointing suppliers of school uniforms.
In addition, school uniforms will also be as generic as possible to ensure they can be obtainable from more than one supplier.
Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said the commission stood by its word of refusing the idea of lengthy contracted litigation with schools. He said the fact that some parents could afford buying a school uniform did not mean the unreasonable prices could not be interrogated because when the costs rose, they affected everyone. “Schools' core business is to teach,” he said.
Bonakele issued a stern warning to schools, companies and manufacturers who did not co-operate. “We will have to use our stick against those,” he said.
He encouraged parents to be guardians of the anti-competitive process to make sure manufacturers and suppliers of school uniforms were in line with the agreement.
An investigation was launched in 2017 following persistent complaints from parents about the unreasonable cost of uniforms. They were forced to buy uniforms from exclusive suppliers. The investigation looked into schools that had established relationships with suppliers and retailers without a limited time frame.
The investigation compared items, and where there was exclusivity, high prices and a regular supply it was less pricey, and the commission saw a huge difference.
“We are not saying this should be the price of an item, but saying we want a space where people are able to compare prices. Where you lock people to an exclusive supplier people will end up paying much higher.”
Bonakele said they would continue with outreach education and advocacy and vigorously enforce competition laws.