How can I get free scholar transport for my children?

The long answer

You should contact the children’s school in Braelynn and make sure that the school has submitted your children’s names to the Department of Transport, and ask how long it will take to sort out.

If the problem continues, you could try contacting the ward councillor for your area.

As you probably know, there has been a huge crisis with school transport in the Eastern Cape since the schools opened this year. Many pupils were left stranded, and there were a number of angry protests and pickets by parents whose children were unable to attend school.

The Department of Education must give the Department of Transport the names of the learners and their schools, which they say they did, and in good time.  

The MEC for Transport, Unathi Binqose, said that 91,000 pupils in the Eastern Cape would be provided school transport for this financial year at a cost of nearly R700-million. 

But the DA, relying on what the same MEC had said in an answer to parliamentary questions in January, said that R230-million of the R695-million budget for school transport was used to pay off an old debt owed by the Department of Transport. That meant that only R465-million was available to pay for school transport. So there was a shortfall to cover the 91,000 pupils that needed transport. 

The latest news is that the Eastern Cape Executive Council (EXCO) has approved an interim budget relief of R90,370-million to help the departments of Transport and Education provide scholar transport to learners in 2024. So, hopefully the problem should be solved soon.

Wishing you the best,
Athalie