Scholar transport crackdown

With thousands of pupils in the Eastern Cape expected to report for the first day of school tomorrow, hundreds of scholar transport vehicles were yesterday subjected to inspection.

Several inspection sites were set up in several towns across the province including Maluti, Mount Ayliff, Mount Frere, Mbizana, East London, Dutywa, Elliotdale, Mthatha, Lusikisiki, Queenstown, Cradock, Maclear, Mount Fletcher, Aliwal North, Sterkspruit and Ngcobo.

The Eastern Cape transport department’s provincial spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca said the exercise was not only aimed at ensuring the readiness of scholar transport vehicles in preparation for the re-opening of the school year, but was designed to ensure they adhered to road safety standards.

He said 1500 scholar transport vehicles were targeted to undergo inspection.

Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana reportedly led a team of officials who inspected scholar transport at the department’s offices in King William’s Town yesterday.

The inspection focussed on, among other things:

• Checking if the car was licensed;
• Tyre condition;
• Brakes;
• Overall condition; and
• Ensuring the lights were working.

But by lunchtime yesterday only one vehicle had reportedly been inspected at the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipal vehicle testing centre in Mthatha according to one official.

Kumbaca warned that the department would not sign any contracts with operators whose scholar transport vehicles had not been inspected.

The spokesman said the department wanted to ensure that there were zero scholar transport-related deaths on the roads this year.

The Dispatch reported last year that the department had even introduced a compulsory new sticker to show vehicles had passed a road safety inspection.

At the time it was said the initiative would help make scholar transport more identifiable and easier to monitor.

In a dialogue hosted last week in East London, Tikana said the department would use individual buses and taxi operators to ferry thousands of Eastern Cape children to school.

This was after it had been reported that Uncedo Taxi Association had interdicted the department from going ahead with the tender to award individuals, citing it had not been advertised to the public.

Around R432-million has reportedly been set aside for pupil transport in the province this year. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za