Denying needy pupils scholar transport is a travesty of justice

It is not often that a government department effectively declares in a statement to the media that it is in wilful contempt of a court order. And yet that is exactly what the Eastern Cape transport department has done. It admitted this week that it did not have the budget to transport 40,000 pupils who qualify for its scholar transport programme.

To be fair, the department had little choice but to admit the obvious. This publication has highlighted several areas in the province where children are walking 20km or more to and from school, facing numerous dangers along the way, including flooding rivers. The problem with the statement is that in December 2024, the Makhanda high court ordered the transport and education departments to provide scholar transport to all qualifying pupils.

The court reminded the departments that the right to basic education was immediately realisable, which meant that the tired excuse of not having the available resources was excluded as a defence. It said the provision of scholar transport was a mandatory and integral component of the right to education. If children cannot get to school in the first place, then they are obviously denied their right to a basic education.

[paywall]

The court said in 2024: “Reference is made to children being required to walk for hours to reach school, arriving late and exhausted, with the same pattern being repeated when going home. “Many have to cross rivers (which cannot be crossed at all when overflowing) and walk in isolated areas or areas with terrain that is difficult to navigate.” A Dispatch article this week read: “Nearly 100 pupils from Tyhalarha village near Mthatha walk up to 20km to and from school each day, crossing a river on the way, because no scholar transport is provided for them …

[/paywall]