Transport MEC Xolile Nqatha must urgently articulate what steps he is taking to avert the crisis of scholar transport funding.
There is a significant chance that learners across the Eastern Cape will start the new academic year stranded without any scholar transport. This is because the Department of Transport’s Scholar Transport Programme is out of money, and has been since November 2023.
Learners cannot simply be abandoned on the side of the road.
The Democratic Alliance warned the Department when it tabled its budget in April that the funds it had allocated to the programme were woefully insufficient. During the adjustment budget, we again called on the Department and Provincial Treasury to make provision for the shortfall, and rejected the budget when no such provision was made.
Despite this, the ANC-led provincial government pushed the adjustment budget through, sealing the fate of tens of thousands of children across the province, who will, in all likelihood, be unable to get to school.
In response to parliamentary questions MEC Nqatha confirmed that the total budget was R695 million, and R230 million of those funds had to be used to pay off old debt, leaving just R465 million for Scholar Transport for the financial year.
Operating costs to transport 103,000 learners exceed R100 million a month, so even with the most reserved calculations, the programme is out of money. This is backed by Taxi Operators, who have confirmed that many scholar operators have not been paid since November last year.
It is no surprise that the Department and Operators are in tight negotiations behind closed doors this week, and it is highly unlikely that a solution will be found unless operators agree to transport learners at their own cost until the new financial year, starting in April when the new budget is released. This seems to be the approach alluded to by Transport Spokesperson, Unathi Binqose.
Even so, we can expect a significant cut in the number of learners that will be transported.
To make matters worse, the Department has still failed to release a report into allegations of Transport officials colluding with Operators to loot the Scholar Transport budget. Funds that are desperately needed to ensure our children can get to school and receive an education.
The Department of Transport has shown it is incapable of managing the Scholar Transport Programme.
The DA will call on the Finance MEC, Mlungisi Mvoko, for urgent intervention to ensure that this programme receives the required funding. We will also call on Treasury to second individuals to oversee the management of any allocated funds.
The can cannot be kicked further down the road. Unless critical interventions are implemented now, tens of thousands of children across this province face the very real possibility of not being able to start their school year. The DA will continue to fight to ensure that that does not happen!
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