Cape Town – The bus service for pupils from the Hillside township in Beaufort West was temporarily reintroduced today – after some of them had to walk about 12km to school on the first day on Wednesday.
Frustrated parents took to the streets yesterday, blocking traffic into the Great Karoo town to protest against the cancellation of scholar transport in the area.
As temperatures hit 42ºC yesterday, more than 100 people burnt tyres and barricaded the N1 with rocks and other objects, demanding that the transport be reinstated.
The ANC in the Central Karoo has welcomed the reinstatement of the bus service as a victory for the community and the affected pupils.
“The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has met with the community. The service has been reintroduced, but temporarily.
"The Western Cape Education Department will investigate the matter and also start a process to procure a new service provider," the ANC Central Karoo region said.
“We are satisfied with the outcome. This is a victory for the learners and the members of the community who were not willing to let them lose out on their education.
"We have been fully behind the community in their efforts to have this bus service reinstated. For us, it has always been about the education of learners.”
Today two buses arrived in Hillside to take pupils to school.
“We were happy to see those buses and even happier when the children waved goodbye,” the ANC said.
The transport was cancelled last year after the WCED said it provided transport for pupils who lived more than 5km from schools and, according to their database, all the pupils lived within the required radius, Odwa Mkentane reported.
But the principal of Mandlenkosi Secondary School, Mluleki Mangqungqa, refuted this, saying the department was using outdated statistics.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said on Thursday they were made aware of allegations that the pupils were now travelling more than 5km to their school and were prioritising the situation.
“We have been informed that there has been an extension to the ‘Graceland’ community, which may just fall outside of 5km.
"The WCED is currently obtaining information as to how many learners live in this new area and whether they will now qualify for the scheme. We are prioritising this currently.
“The WCED has been in contact with local authorities and the provincial traffic department to determine how to improve road safety along this route.
“While there are pedestrian crossings, there has been concern raised about the speed at which vehicles pass certain points."