The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has announced a promising update regarding scholar transport services, confirming that operations will resume following extensive discussions with roughly 250 service providers.

These operators manage about 3 600 buses, transporting nearly 260 000 learners on a daily basis across the province.

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane has underscored the urgent need to resolve the disruption that has left learners without transport following the suspension of services last Monday.

“As you are all aware, they suspended their services from last week Monday. So our learners have not been transported from last week Monday up until today,” Chiloane stated at a recent briefing.

After lengthy negotiations between the department and transport service providers, MEC Matome Chiloane intervened to conclude the talks. “Ultimately, it got to where myself as the executive authority of the department had to come and obviously conclude this,” he explained.

Service providers submitted nine demands, but Chiloane said some of the issues fell outside the department’s mandate. “Of the nine demands that were put in that particular statement, not all of them are related to the Department of Education,” he said.

“We do not bring the Department of Transport and we do not bring the Department of Community Safety. We are speaking about yourselves as service providers contracted with the department and us as your client.

“The situation that is there now of having our children not going to school is not an ideal situation that we want, both of us including them. And we have to really resolve it urgently,” Chiloane added.

Chiloane said the talks cleared up outstanding payments. The department owes service providers two months, not three as previously stated.

“We managed to pay them for December. What is left is the November payment, of which we committed that they will be paid by the end of the week.”

Chiloane said learner transport verification will go digital, replacing manual L-1 forms, and that services will resume in phases to fix the disruption.

“They will fully be ready to resume full operation on Monday. We are quite happy that at least we managed to find each other to a point where operations will begin.”

“We acknowledge the frustration and distress experienced by learners, parents, and communities during this period. The disruption of scholar transport services is not a situation we take lightly, and we regret the inconvenience caused,” he stated, emphasising that the resolutions reached should ensure a smooth transition back to normal operations across Gauteng.

amahle.luke@africannewsagency.com

Saturday Star

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