South Africa: Schools Ignore the Law When Enforcing Payment of School Fees

"The school sold my lounge suite, microwave and fridge... it's now threatening to sell my house too". The household items of the parent who phoned the Equal Education Law Centre earlier this year had just been confiscated by debt collectors seeking to settle a R25,000 outstanding payment for school fees.

When her child was admitted to the school, the parent ran a spaza shop and was making enough money to afford the payment of school fees. Her financial situation changed drastically after her store caught fire and she lost everything. From then on, as a single parent, she had no income other than the child support grant. For two years she could not afford to pay fees.

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