Scores of angry parents from Reeston township yesterday called on the department of transport to fire the taxi operators hired to ferry primary school pupils to Scenery Park.
The call was made after some pupils were left stranded on Monday by drivers who reportedly “forgot” to pick them up. As a result, about 82 pupils from Mbulelo Public School missed school.
Parents yesterday forced all 182 pupils who are part of the scholar transport programme out of taxis, calling on the department to bring back buses.
Parent Nosicelo Wewe said: “Monday was not the first time that our children were left stranded by these drivers.
“We have been experiencing challenges with them since the buses stopped transporting our children. Before the schools closed last month about 14 children were robbed by a group of men while walking from school because the taxi operators did not fetch them from school.”
Wewe said some mornings the drivers just refused to ferry the pupils, telling them the department had not paid for all of them.
“Every week these taxi drivers refuse to come back for more loads and instead leave our children stranded on the road or dump them for the one bus that is available to pick them up, causing an overload every day,” Wewe said.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the area yesterday, pupils were walking home.
No taxis were visible.
The department of transport’s deputy director for stakeholder engagement, Loyiso Magqashela, who was already on the scene, had been called in to resolve the conflict between parents and taxi operators. He said they were addressing the matter and took it seriously.
“The parents have complained that their children were not being transported according to good standards. They claimed the problems mounted in September when the pupils were picked up very early – around 6am while the agreement was 6.45am – apparently because the taxi drivers want to rush back to taxi ranks to carry on with their business. Winter was the worst experience for them,” he said.
“The pupils are left stranded sometimes and the parents want the taxis to stop their services and that we use buses only. There have been cases of overloading and some complaints against the school principal too,” Magqashela added.
He said the department would hold a meeting today with the school principal, parents and taxi operators.
He said they were involving the principal as it had been alleged she was diverting one of the taxis paid for by the department to pick up pupils from another area.
“We have pleaded with the parents to allow the taxis to operate tomorrow ,” Magqashela said.
“We must resolve this matter. We will definitely find a solution,” he promised.
Scholar transport uproar: parents want taxi operators fired for leaving children stranded
The call was made after some pupils were left stranded on Monday by drivers who reportedly “forgot” to pick them up. As a result, about 82 pupils from Mbulelo Public School missed school.
Parents yesterday forced all 182 pupils who are part of the scholar transport programme out of taxis, calling on the department to bring back buses.
Parent Nosicelo Wewe said: “Monday was not the first time that our children were left stranded by these drivers.
“We have been experiencing challenges with them since the buses stopped transporting our children. Before the schools closed last month about 14 children were robbed by a group of men while walking from school because the taxi operators did not fetch them from school.”
Wewe said some mornings the drivers just refused to ferry the pupils, telling them the department had not paid for all of them.
“Every week these taxi drivers refuse to come back for more loads and instead leave our children stranded on the road or dump them for the one bus that is available to pick them up, causing an overload every day,” Wewe said.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the area yesterday, pupils were walking home.
No taxis were visible.
The department of transport’s deputy director for stakeholder engagement, Loyiso Magqashela, who was already on the scene, had been called in to resolve the conflict between parents and taxi operators. He said they were addressing the matter and took it seriously.
“The parents have complained that their children were not being transported according to good standards. They claimed the problems mounted in September when the pupils were picked up very early – around 6am while the agreement was 6.45am – apparently because the taxi drivers want to rush back to taxi ranks to carry on with their business. Winter was the worst experience for them,” he said.
“The pupils are left stranded sometimes and the parents want the taxis to stop their services and that we use buses only. There have been cases of overloading and some complaints against the school principal too,” Magqashela added.
He said the department would hold a meeting today with the school principal, parents and taxi operators.
He said they were involving the principal as it had been alleged she was diverting one of the taxis paid for by the department to pick up pupils from another area.
“We have pleaded with the parents to allow the taxis to operate tomorrow ,” Magqashela said.
“We must resolve this matter. We will definitely find a solution,” he promised.
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