The Gauteng Small Bus Operators Council (GASBOC) has suspended scholar transport services after the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) allegedly failed to pay service providers for more than three months.
Operators staged a protest outside the department’s offices in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, on Monday, demanding immediate payment of outstanding invoices.
GASBOC Chairperson Jabulani Khumalo said the department has been in arrears since October 2024, despite service providers submitting invoices within the required 30-day period.
“The Department of Education has failed to pay service providers within 30 days of invoicing and is now more than three months behind on payments. This has been ongoing since October 2024,” said Khumalo.
He further called on the Gauteng Department of Education, together with the Department of Transport and Community Safety, to stop fining operators or impounding buses over permit issues while they remain unpaid.
“GDE, in conjunction with the Department of Transport and Community Safety, must stop issuing fines to our members or removing buses over permits when the department itself owes us money,” he added.
Scholar transport owner Tshepang Mabena urged the department to urgently process outstanding payments, warning that small businesses are collapsing.
“We are trying to survive and run our small businesses. We are asking the GDE to process our payments and not take this matter lightly,” Mabena said.
Parents have also raised concerns over the impact on learners.
Joyce Mere, a parent from Dan Hlophe in Randfontein, said children are already missing school due to the suspended services.
“The drivers are unable to fetch our kids because the owners can’t pay them. Our children will end up failing because they are not going to school,” she said.
Another parent, Agnes Baikgaki, described the situation as devastating for families and businesses.
“This is government money. They must do the right thing and pay because now everything is collapsing. They are destroying the businesses of hardworking people,” Baikgaki said.
She added that some children are being exposed to drugs and crime as a result of not attending school.
The operators handed over a memorandum of demands to the department.
The Gauteng Department of Education could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
