Eleventh-hour settlement for scholar-transport saga

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has just shy of five months to supply government-funded scholar transport to learners in the rural district of Nquthu.

According to the settlement‚ a copy of which has been obtained by TimesLIVE‚ the department will undertake to take all reasonable steps in terms of the 2013 KwaZulu-Natal Learner Transport Policy to provide government-assisted transport by 1 April 2018.

"[The transport will be provided] to learners in these schools‚ who are hindered by distance and mobility‚ and an inability to afford the costs of transport to and from their schools‚" the statement on the settlement reads.

The department was also ordered to pay the costs of the application‚ and to provide a report on their interventions before April 2018.