DBE claims 1 in 10 pupils left stranded … numbers tell another story

The department of basic education (DBE) told Parliament that one in 10 pupils who need transport to school are not receiving it, but figures contained in the department’s own presentation suggest the real scale of the problem is significantly greater. Briefing the portfolio committee on basic education on Tuesday, the department said that, as of 28 January 2026, 10.64% of pupils nationally who required transport were not getting a ride. The Western Cape, it said, was the only province that had managed to transport all pupils who required the service.

However, the same presentation contained provincial data that paints a more alarming picture. According to the figures, the Eastern Cape has 47 591 pupils left without a ride despite 159 361 pupils requiring transport in the province. This number is far higher than Gauteng and the Northern Cape.

KwaZulu-Natal’s data is even more concerning. While the province reported that 233 000 pupils require transport, only 76 598 were receiving it. The presentation indicated “no data” under “learners not transported” in the province, but a calculation based on its figures indicates that 156 402 pupils in the province are likely not being transported.

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At a national level, the DBE reported that 630 227 pupils require transport, while 740 993 are receiving it, with 67 073 listed as not transported. The figures, however, are difficult to reconcile and are further complicated by missing or inconsistent data. For Mpumalanga, the department did not disclose how many pupils require transport, only reporting that 67 221 pupils are receiving transport. This lack of clarity makes it impossible to tell what the true extent of pupils without access to transport is, and suggests the figure is likely far higher than the one in 10 pupils reported to Parliament.

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