More than 500 learners from the Phiri Secondary School who reside at the Tsetse and Mafole villages, Ventersdorp, in the North West, have to endure an 8-km walk to school daily, due to the unavailability of a scholar transport bus. The owner of the bus says he’s unable to ferry the learners, as he has run out of diesel.
Kamogelo Molebatsi who is in Grade 11 said she is frustrated about the lack of school bus and thought the distance was intolerable. “I chose to hitchhike since I can’t walk to school because it’s too far and I can’t do anything when I get home because I am too tired,” he said.
Luyanda Senne said she is frequently late for classes and she doesn’t feel safe asking for lifts to school. “I could not obtain a lift to school because of the distance, and it’s not even safe, but I simply had to do it.”
Parents in the area have complained about poor scholar transportation for years and have pleaded with the government to designate school buses that are safe to use.
As a parent, Themba Motshwene said he feels grief that the children are walking such a distance.
“When they reach home, they need to complete homework. What time will they get to do that if they spend hours walking from school?.”
Another parent Simon Maatshe said the situation has saddened him because the children are not safe, especially because bad things keep happening to young children these days.
“This makes me very sad, we have daughters, and if something happens, what are they going to do?” He added, “We are pleading with the government to do something else with this problem of transport, and if it’s impossible, let them talk with us so that we can come up with proper transport to take our children to school.”
According to Maria Motsumi, this issue has persisted for two years. “Every year we have to deal with this issue, the government’s provision of school bus transportation has had no effect. Every single day, in a week, the children walk to school twice or three times, and it’s unpleasant because it’s a distance, and when they reach home, they are already fatigued,” she said.
Asked for comment, the bus owner Abel Latha complained about late payment from the department of transport and said this is the reason for his failure to transport the learners.
“I did not have money for diesel, the department called me yesterday about this crisis but on Monday the buses will be there. They are supposed to be six but on Monday they will be four or five or (maybe) the required six buses,” he said.
The North West MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi, has put the blame on the shoulder of the Department of Transport and she accused it of failing to provide learners with safe and well-maintained transportation.
“We must intervene because that thing on its own is a contravention of the constitution. If the departments are unable to provide or to service our learners we are going to open a discussion with the premier of the North West.
“That is our function and we are the ones who are affected, why not take that particular scholar transport back to the department of education so that there must be better accountability there, because we are being disadvantaged because of other sister departments,” she said.
