The commissioner of the Competition Commission visited several schools in the Eastern Cape to raise awareness on school uniform guidelines.
Tembinkosi Bonakele’s visit to Selborne College in East London on Monday coincided with the resumption of the 2022 academic year in coastal provinces this week.
Bonakele’s colleague and Competition Commission of SA spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga similarly visited Grey High School in Gqeberha and Woodridge College and Preparatory School in Thornhill.
During their visits to schools, they interacted with principals, parents, guardians, members of school governing bodies, and SMEs in the manufacturing and procurement of school uniforms to establish the state of compliance with the guidelines on the procurement of uniforms.
The guidelines seek to ensure that:
- The school uniform is as generic as possible;
- The number of unique school uniform items is limited to only a few items that the schools regard as necessary to obtain from preselected suppliers;
- Parents/pupils can exercise their choice as consumers;
- Schools undertake a competitive bidding process when selecting service providers and, where feasible, appoint more than one service provider; and
- Schools conclude agreements of limited duration to avoid long-term or evergreen contracts with suppliers of school uniforms.
Makunga said the visits formed part of its nationwide advocacy campaign, aimed at ensuring compliance with the school uniform guidelines.
It further aims to encourage schools to sign the “undertaking to comply with competition principles in school uniform procurement” as a commitment to practice pro-competitive procurement.
He said both Grey and Woodridge were aware of the guidelines.
“The consensus was that everyone needed to work together to ease the burden on parents.
“The schools have undertaken to sign the pledge once they have discussed it with their various role players,” Makunga said.
Schools are chosen at random. The visits will continue for the next three months.
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