Parents reported that up to 100 children were packed into school buses. Picture: Supplied
LEARNER transport resumed in the Dikgatlong region on Monday after pupils in Longlands and Gong Gong were left stranded last week.
A school governing body member stated that some primary school pupils were, however, not collected as the service provider claimed that he had not received payment since November 2024.
Community members said they intend to stage a protest on January 20 as they are aggrieved over unroadworthy buses and overcrowding.
Parents reported that up to 100 pupils were crammed into a single bus.
“This is a major accident waiting to happen; our children are not safe,” they warned.
They added that primary school pupils did not attend classes on January 17, while high school pupils had to walk home from Barkly West after not being collected by learner transport.
“A local resident used his private transport to collect some of the children on Friday,” a community member said.
Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said the learner transport challenges that prevailed in the Longlands and Gong Gong area since January 16 had been resolved.
“The department can confirm that one schooling day was lost and pupils returned to school on Friday. Officials from our district office engaged with the parents and secured two buses and a midi-bus to service the route to transport learners to and from school,” said Van der Merwe.
He explained that the issue arose due to the late registration of learners, which impacted transport capacity.
“According to our information, only one month’s payment is outstanding to the service provider. We have requested the service provider to re-submit the invoice for November, so that the payment can be processed.”
Van der Merwe stated that the buses were all roadworthy.
“The parents and school community are satisfied with the interventions made by the department,” he concluded.