Cape Town - Traffic and education officials have come out strongly against private transport operators for overcrowding and using unauthorised vehicles when transporting schoolchildren.
As thousands of pupils returned to school across the province this week, the Western Cape Education Department said overcrowding was its biggest problem when it came to the private transportation of pupils.
Some vehicles were not suitable to be used for transportation and the department has urged parents to take note of the private taxi operators they use and to ensure they follow the regulations.
Four pupils were killed and 20 others injured when their taxi was involved in a collision with a bus in Ntuzuma township outside Durban on Wednesday.
The taxi they were travelling in had allegedly refused to stop for a check by rank marshals only moments before the tragedy, according to reports.
Jessica Shelver, Western Cape education MEC Debbie Schäfer’s spokesperson, said some of the vehicles were being used by private taxi operators or individuals within the community that are being paid to transport pupils.
“We welcome crackdowns by traffic authorities to ensure the safety of pupils in transport of any kind," she said.
“The WCED has no jurisdiction over monitoring compliance of private vehicles in this regard. We do, however, ask that principals report cases of dangerous and unlawful transportation of our pupils to the traffic authorities,” she said.
Shelver said it applied strict conditions to bus contracts under the department’s Learner Transport Scheme to ensure learner safety and measures to monitor compliance.
“Contractors must provide an efficient, safe and reliable means of transport in line with the requirements of the Service Level Agreement and in the best interest of the learners, the school and the WCED,” she said.
Blitzes in high-risk regions
The transport and public works department said officers had clamped down on many dodgy learner transport vehicles in the Western Cape in the past, and would continue to do so in 2017.
“The department’s traffic officers regularly respond to complaints by carrying out learner transport blitzes in high-risk regions such as the Cape Winelands, Breede Valley, and Eden," spokesman Byron La Hoe said.
“Our efforts are mainly focused on traffic law enforcement. This includes conducting safety checks to ensure that vehicles are safe and suitable for this important function, and that operators have a valid operating licence and necessary permits to transport learners.”
South African National Taxi Council president Philip Taaibosch said: “There are very strict rules that apply to the taxis that provide scholar transport. But as it stands, the scholar transport issue is a loose one, because there are those individuals who transport children and this makes it difficult for officials to act,” he said.
The City said it had embarked on a three-month programme, via the ward councillors, to inform parents, crèches, schools and operators about the National Land Transport Act regulations that apply to those paid to transport children to ensure that transporting of children was done safely.