rentals a lesson on what not to do, page-16

"The landlord can not just keep the bond/money he has to apply to the consumer affairs dept for the state that he is in."

Thats not 100% correct. Here in SA it depends on the type of rental agreement. For share houses with bonds the landlord can manage the bond internally - for all other cases that I am aware of it has to be lodged with consumer affairs.

I agree Markco that many don't know their rights and responsibilities and it is not hard to find out these days. In the case you mentioned the tenant should have known or found out his rights and pushed back.