Cape Town -More than 2 000 Khayelitsha school pupils have missed out on learning since last week, as taxi operators have allegedly vowed no scholar transport will operate in the area as they are cut out from contracts.
Academia Primary School has been the worst affected as many children come from neighbouring communities such as Mfuleni, with some children not attending classes all of last week.
According to Education MEC David Maynier, the school’s absenteeism rate was 90% on Monday.
“I visited Academia Primary School, where over 50% of their learners have been prevented from going to school, due to an illegal blockade of learner transport operations by minibus taxi associations. Minibus taxi association members have been threatening and harassing our contracted drivers to prevent them from transporting learners.
“The blockade affected up to 2 400 learners last week, depriving them of their constitutional right to education, and we await feedback from our schools as to the number of learners affected on (Monday). This includes our special needs learners, where a driver was forced to turn back as he feared for his safety and took learners home,” said Maynier.
He alleged that this was all because the taxi industry was attempting to muscle in on transport contracts and extort money from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).
“Minibus taxi associations are demonstrating that in order to line their own pockets, they are willing to compromise matric exams and compromise teaching and learning in our schools, sacrificing the best interest of our children,” he said.
Maynier alleged the minibus taxi associations have been spreading disinformation, claiming that they were promised contracts by the department.
“The minibus taxi associations appear to be demanding that we allocate transport contracts to them without following tender processes, which we cannot and will not do. It is simply illegal. Let us be clear, the WCED will not meet with any minibus taxi association until they terminate their blockade, teaching and learning resumes without disruption,” he said.
The Western Cape Scholar Transport issued a notice to parents at the weekend requesting they make alternative arrangements due to threats.
“On Thursday we received a voice note which has been widely shared, warning that on February 13, there must be no scholar transport operating in Khayelitsha.
We sent some of our members to the Codeta office to verify if the message was true and they reported back that it is true.
The taxi operators said we must halt all operations until they give us the go-ahead to continue operating again. They further explained that it was due to issues they have with contracted bus scholar transports and WCED. We apologise that a few weeks into starting the 2023 academic year we are already faced with such incidents,” it said.
The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) held a mass taxi meeting until late on Monday evening where issues including scholar transport, meter taxis, City by-laws and subsidies were discussed.
Asked about the voice note, Santaco spokesperson Mandla Hermanus said it did not come from them.
“Scholar transport is operating in our areas as normal. The taxi leadership(Codeta) of Khayelitsha region will be part of the meeting and this will be raised with them. We will report on the outcome of our engagements.”
Codeta’s Nceba Enge said the WCED was to blame claiming they had folded on their agreement of March 2022 about looking into partnership to allow taxis to also transport pupils.
“We met with the department and they agreed that we will have another meeting to consult about the scholar transport matter.
“Now they’ve been playing hide and seek. They are to blame for what is happening,” he said.
Acting Mobility MEC Ivan Meyer condemned the threats.
“I am disappointed that the selfish act of keeping young people from education opportunities is performed by members of the very same communities. That is why officials from (MEC) Meyer’s department will continue to engage the Western Cape leadership of the Santaco and Codeta to remind them of their obligations to ensure that their members respect the rule of law,” said Meyer.
He said a multidisciplinary team with head of departments, MEC’s and provincial police representatives held a meeting on Monday afternoon about a multi-pronged plan of action.
Cape Times