Consumer Watch: Private schools refuse to refund `acceptance deposit´
(World News South Africa)

Johannesburg - Private schools, insisting on non-refundable `acceptance fees` or deposits, which run into tens of thousands of rands, could be breaking the law and getting away with it, because most parents don´t challenge them or dare make waves. It´s become a gratifying income stream for some of the country´s best resourced and already expensive schools. Last week, after a parent complained about a prominent private school in Cape Town´s southern suburbs insisting on a R15000 `acceptance deposit`, which was non-refundable and not allocated towards school fees, I turned to parents of the 34000-strong The Village Facebook group, asking how rife the practice was. Judging by the comments, it´s...