Back to school 2026: Authorities urge parents to report scholar transport overloading, unroadworthy vehicles
Mounting deaths, illegal practices, and unroadworthy vehicles in the scholar transport sector have triggered renewed warnings from national and provincial authorities, with parents urged to take direct responsibility for the safety of children travelling to and from school.
Schools open for the new academic year next week.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and ChildSafe South Africa this week highlighted that children aged five to 14 accounted for 5.61% of the 12 172 people killed on South African roads in 2024, a figure both organisations described as preventable.
“This is an unacceptable situation as these unfortunate fatalities could have been prevented if proper precautions were taken. Parents must understand that road safety starts at home before a child gets into a vehicle that transports them,” said RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane.
ChildSafe South Africa said enforcement alone will not protect children if parents fail to scrutinise vehicles and drivers. Executive Director Zaitoon Rabaney said parents should personally assess scholar transport before allowing children to board.
“Safety on our roads is a shared responsibility that begins long before a child reaches the school gates,” Rabaney said.
She said scholar transport should not be treated as a convenience, but as a regulated service requiring strict compliance.
“Scholar transport must never be viewed as a mere convenience, but as a critical service that requires rigorous safety standards. Collectively, we must ensure that operators are not only legally compliant but also fit for the duty of transporting children,” she said.
Parents have been urged to verify that drivers hold valid Professional Driving Permits (PDPs), confirm identity matches licence cards, and inspect vehicles for valid operating licences, current licence discs, and roadworthy tyres. Transporting learners in the back of bakkies or open trucks remains illegal and life-threatening.
The renewed national warning follows heightened focus on the state of scholar transport in KwaZulu-Natal, where Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma last year acknowledged growing public concern and deadly failures in the system.
Duma said the province had been shaken by fatal scholar transport accidents, including the deaths of five learners from Mbali Township.
He reiterated that learner safety is a shared responsibility and warned against finger-pointing while lives continue to be lost.
“I wish to reiterate that the safety of learners is a collective responsibility,” Duma said.
Duma said unroadworthy vehicles involved in scholar transport must be taken off the roads to prevent further loss of life and confirmed that enforcement had been intensified across the province. He said the department had mandated audits of private scholar transport, starting in the uMgungundlovu District, in collaboration with municipalities, taxi associations, and the South African National Taxi Council.
Parents and school governing bodies were also called on to play an active role.
“We undertake to work with parents and school governing bodies. In particular, we request parents to verify the condition of vehicles, the driver’s permit, and avoid overloaded vehicles to guarantee the safety of children,” Duma said.
He also raised concerns about fraudulent roadworthiness certificates and confirmed collaboration with the Vehicle Testing Association and the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit to root out corruption.
Nationally, both the RTMC and ChildSafe South Africa warned that overloading, lack of seatbelts, and poor communication between operators and parents continue to place children at risk. Parents have been advised to insist on designated seating, working seatbelts, passenger liability insurance, and reliable communication systems from transport operators.
Parents who encounter unsafe or non-compliant scholar transport operators have been urged to report them immediately to traffic authorities, as the government intensifies efforts to clean up an industry increasingly under scrutiny.