Twenty days after 11 students along with their school transport driver lost their lives in a horror accident in Fochville, the motorist accused of causing the accident, Gert van Emmenis (55), is charged with 12 counts of aggravated murder and careless or negligent driving.

More than a week ago, after appearing on Fochville Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Van Emmenis was released on R20 000 bail, and the case was adjourned to October 15 for further investigation. This delay leaves the families of the deceased in limbo and yearning for closure. Unfortunately, the Fochville tragedy was not an isolated incident.

The exact number of students affected by educational issues, including injuries and deaths in accidents, is unknown. Every year, however, many incidents occur in connection with researcher transport across the country.

Last Monday, 11-year-old Lifalethu Mbasana, a student from Simon’s Town School in Cape Town’s Deep South, had to walk at least 13km of his more than 70km journey home to Khayelitsha after being kicked off the bus for losing his ticket. Other incidents include:

• Klipvoor Stadt and Ga-Rasai researchers in North West i January 2024 were left stranded after their government-sponsored scholarship transport failed to turn up to take them to school.
• Twelve-year student Kagiso Maloka from Modiselle Primary school in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, died in early February 2024 after falling from a moving research transport bus near his home.
• IN February 2024 in the North West province, 51 students were involved in a horrific accident after their learned transport driver lost control of the bus in Welverdiend near Lichtenburg.
• Two primary school students died after a minibus overturned accident on the R37 between Lebowakgomo and Burgersfort, Limpopo, in March 2024. According to reports from Limpopo Chronicle newspaper, 20 other students were also injured after their driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle.
• IN May 2024several research transport operators went on strike in the Eastern Cape after the provincial transport department failed to pay their dues on time.
• Children aged between seven and 11 died after a vehicle transporting them to school crashed in May 2023 in AZ Berman Drive, Mitchells Plainin the Western Cape.

Department of Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the main challenge in the National Scholar Transport Policy was the lack of capacity to transport all eligible students.

“This means that many students are still going to school due to lack of adequate funding due to financial constraints in the country.”

While it has been reported that the lack of regulation in the industry exacerbates these issues, in each province the Department of Transport is responsible for administering and managing student transport, while the Department of Basic Education provides funding and identifies recipient students. Although there is a national policy for research transport, provinces like Gauteng and Western Cape has created its own transport policy.

National Scholar Transportation Policy

The National Scholar Transport Policy aims to create a consistent framework for addressing student transport challenges. Its main objectives are to standardize norms and standards, promote coordination between stakeholders and provide a framework for monitoring and evaluation of transport services. The policy emphasizes operational reliability, efficiency, broad access, equity, sustainability and multimodal integration. Subsidized transport is aimed at students from grades R to 12 who live in areas without public transport and have long walks to school of more than three kilometres.

Although this policy is well-intentioned, insufficient funding and poor implementation have led to increased reliance on private operators. These operators are often poorly regulated and can pose security risks.

Thabo Maponya, Chairman of Bokamoso Scholar Transport Associationa private provider of researcher transport services based in Soweto, told the Daily Maverick that there was a lack of engagement from the education department with the sector.

– There are many problems we are going through. We have tried to work with the government to intervene. We have been shut out; they don’t want to give us time or an ear. The only time they want to talk to us is when something has happened, an accident, for example… This is an environment where anyone can just come in and be a research transport service, because we can’t monitor that either. From unlicensed drivers, parents who don’t care enough to send their children on transport they haven’t controlled themselves, and unroadworthy vehicles. We need their help with that.”

Read in the Daily Maverick:Grieving Gauteng family demand swift inquiry into Fochville horror crash that killed 11 students

Collen Msibi, national spokesperson for the Department of Transport, told Daily Maverick that the policy was found to be relevant and in line with wider government policies affecting the poor through an evaluation carried out by the Department for Transport, in collaboration with the Departments for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and for Basic Education.

Msibi said at the center of the nationwide research transport issues was the lack of adequate financial resources for research transport. He said: “According to the provinces, it prevents the full implementation of transport services to cover the scope of all students who need transport to learning institutions.”

He added: “Road accidents are a major problem during student transport. A greater proportion of these crashes affect privately arranged student transport. The subsidized student transport run by the government has fewer road accidents. The integration of research transport, as well as the closure and rationalization of schools, has led to students walking long distances to school.

Increased demand

“This has increased the demand for student transport. This problem is more prevalent in schools located in rural areas. The migration of students from one province to another, particularly to Gauteng, has increased the need for researcher transport, necessitating a corresponding increase in budgetary allocations in Gauteng. The lack of a financial frameworks that provide uniform cost and reimbursement models for the implementation of the national student transport policy hamper the implementation of the policy. In addition, there is also a lack of a dedicated electronic system for student transportation as well as insufficient staff to manage and monitor the program.”

It appears that addressing these multifaceted issues requires immediate, coordinated action from both the Department of Transportation and the Department of Basic Education, along with increased financial investment and strict regulations to ensure the safety and reliability of research transportation across the country. DM