CRUSH South Africa’s elite private schools! The government is quietly moving to pull a key financial support, leaving institutions facing MILLIONS in surprise taxes and a brutal funding crisis, Newsday can reveal.
Stunned legal experts at firm Bowmans warn a secretive National Treasury amendment, buried in draft laws, will FORCE all VAT-registered private schools to DEREHISTER by the start of 2026.
The move is a FINANCIAL PUNCH TO THE GUT. Schools currently claim back VAT on costs for profitable ventures like sports field rentals, tuckshops and hall hires. The new law would strip that right away.
But the REAL SHOCK is a hidden trap. On deregistration, a school is treated as if it sold ALL its assets overnight. A hall worth tens of millions, bought years ago, could trigger a massive, immediate VAT bill the school must pay within 12 months.
This ISN’T a one-time hit. Schools lose ALL future VAT clawbacks on everything from sports equipment to new classrooms. Costs will explode. Critical asset maintenance, teacher hires, and student programs are now ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK.
Who benefits? The answer is chilling. While schools scramble and families face higher fees, the government gets a massive, immediate cash injection from those asset taxes. The Treasury and SARS stay SILENT as educators plead for reason.
This isn’t just bad policy—it’s a calculated financial ambush on the places that educate our children.
The silent officials drafting this law are deciding which schools survive and which get financially strangled, all while quietly collecting the cash.
Edited for Kayitsi.com
Author: Kayitsi.com
