Single or divorced parents seldom have joy when applying for exemption from paying for school fees at public schools. Most schools require that the financial income and expenditure of both parents be supplied and if the “non-custodian” parent’s finances are excluded, an exemption is usually not given to the parent applying or they are told the application cannot be processed and/or is denied due to it being incomplete. 

This has been an ongoing battle for many single parents who are estranged from their partners, whether they were ever married or not. Section 40 of the South African Schools Act (hereinafter referred to as “SASA”) states that a parent is liable to pay the school fees unless or to the extent that he or she has been exempted from payment in terms of the Act. Section 41 of SASA states further that “A public school may by process of law enforce the payment of school fees by parents who are liable to pay in terms of section 40.” 

Regulation 4 (1) & (2) states that “A parent who wishes to be exempted from payment of school fees for a child at a public school must apply annually to the chairperson of the governing body in writing, by completing the form contained in Annexure B of these regulations, supplied by the principal. An applicant must furnish such relevant further particulars as the governing body may request”. 

Furthermore Regulation 1 defines “combined annual gross income of parents” as the annual gross income of the parents, calculated together. This has resulted in public schools drafting their own application form based on Annexure B contained in the regulations and requesting the income details of biological both parents and whether the parties were married.  This is despite the fact thatRegulation 9(3) states that “No applicant may be disqualified on the ground that his or her application form is either incomplete or incorrectly completed.” Most schools decline application forms that has not been fully completed by both parents. 

One such parent, Michelle Saffer, requested relief from the Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal has recognized the plight of all single parents in a landmark judgment. In “Head of the Department Western Cape Education Department and Others v Saffer the Supreme Court of Appeal”, paragraph 4 of the Court Order reads: 

1. If a learner at a fee-paying public school has two living parents;
2.  If one of them applies to the school for a partial or total exemption from the obligation to pay school fees; 
3. If in that application the parent applying gives particulars of his or her total annual gross income;
4. If in that application the parent applying does not give particulars of the total annual gross income of the other parent because the other parent has refused or failed to provide the particulars to the parent applying; and
5. If having regard solely to total annual gross income of the parent applying, he or she would qualify for a total or partial exemption in terms of the Regulations if he or she were the only parent of the learner;
6. Then the school is obliged to grant the applying parent a conditional exemption from the payment of the school fees equal to the total exemption or the partial exemption to which the applying parent would have been entitled if he or she were the only parent of the learner.  

Paragraph 5 of the Court Order states further: 

“ It is declared that the granting of such a conditional exemption shall not preclude the public school from taking legal steps to enforce payment, by the other parent of the learner concerned, of the school fees or the balance of the school fees, as the case may be, in terms of section 41(1) of the Act [i.e. the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996].’" 

Therefore a single parent can apply for total or partial exemption and if the other parent refuses or fails to provide their financial information, a public school would be obliged to consider and grant a conditional exemption as per the formula contained in the Regulations. 

However this conditional exemption means that if your finances improve, the school must be informed thereof and further should the “non-custodian” parent still fail to provide the financial information, the school is not barred from suing to recover the balance of school fees. 

This landmark case is a victory for all financially stressed single parents who struggle to make ends meet.  

Reference List: 

• The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996;
• South African Schools Act (84/1996): Regulations relating to the exemption of parents from payment of school fees in public schools;
• Western Cape Education Department Circular 12/2018 dated 14.03.2018;
• Head of the Department Western Cape Education Department and Others v Saffer (1209/2016) [2017] ZASCA