Pete, to the best of my knowledge you can't do a JAA PPL in SA straight away. You're going to get an SA PPL which needs to be converted to a JAA PPL. I don't know how complex or costly that's going to be but it is something that you need to factor into your decision.
Nobody on this forum has been to all of the US based schools so nobody is in any position of authority to compare them. And every school gets bad reviews every now and then: people are more likely to complain than praise, particularly on a public forum.
You did read the "sticky" that I wrote about obtaining a JAA PPL in the US, did you?