KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Willies Mchunu, has assured parents and learners in the province that the government would continue to prioritise and provide transport to scholars.

Mchunu stated in his recent Transport Budget Vote speech that, “the department’s R185.9 million allocation to learner transport would ensure that 21 760 learners attending 226 schools throughout the province, would benefit from this programme”.

However, he noted that this coverage still fell short of the greater demand for scholar transport, which is provided to needy and mostly rural-based learners travelling more than three kilometres to the nearest schools.

For the province to cover the priority need of learners across the province, it would require an estimated R5 billion budget – a far cry from the current R185.9 million.

Government has also provided 12,305 bicycles to needy learners over the last five years, and will be distributing a further 15,000 bicycles in the next five years.

In respect of learners travelling on bakkies, Mchunu said the Provincial Executive (Cabinet) has directed departments of Transport, Education and Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, to work together to address this challenge.

“In our collaborative process we have interacted with the KwaZulu-Natal Scholar Transport operators who have now joined the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO). Going forward, a joint programme to reach out to all scholar transport operators across all districts will be implemented. In the meantime, parents and School Governing Bodies are urged to ensure that their children use safer modes of transport to avoid further loss of lives,” said Mchunu.

“Access to education is a critical government priority and on our part we are determined to ensure that is enhanced through the increase of scholar transport and road infrastructure upgrades such as roads and bridges,” added Mchunu.