More than 231,000 pupils are paying for transport or are forced to walk long distances to school daily because of the government’s failure to subsidise them.
Figures supplied by the department of basic education on February 26 show that a total of 216,100 pupils at public schools and a further 15,554 at special education institutions are being denied scholar transport, despite qualifying for it.
North West did not provide any figures to the department of basic education, while Limpopo indicated it was still auditing the number of pupils needing scholar transport.
A staggering 157,538 of the 216,100 pupils at public schools who had failed to get scholar transport were from KwaZulu-Natal, while 36,832 were from Eastern Cape, 15,395 from Mpumalanga, 5,474 from Gauteng and 861 from the Northern Cape.
A total of 570,410 pupils attending public schools countrywide were benefiting from scholar transport.
Meanwhile, the majority of pupils who still needed transport to special schools included 7,006 from Gauteng, 4,236 from the Western Cape and 3,052 from KwaZulu-Natal.
According to the department’s presentation, transport-related challenges included:
- overloading scholar transport vehicles and unroadworthy vehicles in the Northern Cape;
- bad roads in KwaZulu-Natal and taxi operators demanding to operate school routes;
- operators in the Northern Cape unable to replace vehicles; and
- occasional incidents of operators in Limpopo not having sufficient vehicles available.
Demichelle Petherbridge, an attorney at Section27, said it was a travesty that thousands of pupils, who were eligible for scholar transport, were walking to school.
“We know that many walk long distances, sometimes in the rain and in extreme heat, to school. Many pupils arrive late, hungry, tired and are unable to concentrate which ultimately affects their performance. Some pupils fail and even drop out as a result.”
She said there was a possibility that the figure for those not benefiting from scholar transport was higher than the official figure of 231,654.
“Schools may fail to apply for scholar transport or have given up trying after years of applying without success.”
Schools may fail to apply for scholar transport or have given up trying after years of applying without success.
— Section 27 attorney Demichelle Petherbridge
She said that in 2018 the KwaZulu-Natal education department and transport department had to verify the number of pupils qualifying for scholar transport after they were taken to court for failing to provide transport to qualifying pupils.
“The departments had to adjust their initial number of 90,000 to 360,000 after the verification exercise. This significant change in numbers raises important questions about how departments collect their data on qualifying pupils and how often these are audited and verified.”
The DA’s spokesperson for education in KZN, Imran Keeka, said a countless number of pupils were transported by an unregulated transport system for which there was no oversight.
“An audit has to be done but I am worried there is no appetite from the leadership of the education department to do this.”
In response to a question from Keeka in August, the head of department for transport in KwaZulu-Natal, Siboniso Mbhele, admitted they were aware of vehicles that in total had an illegal overload of 9,673 pupils.
Keeka said there was no evidence that the budget for the new financial year, which starts next month, “will address pupil transport to the extent that is required”.
KwaZulu-Natal education department spokesperson Sihle Mlotshwa said the 157,538 pupils would only be provided with scholar transport “once provincial treasury allocates enough budget to accommodate them”.
Musa Cebisa, spokesperson for KZN Treasury, said providing additional funding was a key priority “as evidenced by the addition of R204m in the 2022/23 budget”.
“Adding further funds is currently hampered by the fiscal consolidation budget cuts that were implemented against all spheres of government. However, the intention is for us to see if we can top up this funding when resources become available.”
Eastern Cape’s education department spokesperson, Mali Mtima, referred queries to the province’s transport department spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, who said the demand for school transport “far exceeds what we can provide”.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to cater for school transport to every deserving pupil because of budgetary constraints.”
Western Cape education department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said pupils at rural schools of skill who needed transport were on the pupil transport scheme, while other special schools operated their own buses or outsourced transport.
“The situation at some of these schools is that their bus fleet is ageing and many are off the road for repairs, necessitating double trips or further outsourcing. The ageing buses are incrementally being replaced by the department.”
“Schools have been provided with additional funding to outsource transport in the meantime.”
Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona referred queries to the department of basic education, while the Northern Cape did not respond.
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