AN ADMINISTRATIVE bungle has left hundreds of pupils without transport to get to school.
Now with just weeks before the end-of-year exams parents are worried their children may have to repeat their grades next year.
The pupils in eMalahleni (Witbank) are victims of a dispute between scholar transport operators and the Mpumalanga provincial government.
Bus operators stopped ferrying the children to school, demanding that the department of public works, roads and transport pay an outstanding debt they claim dates back to 2006.
The operators alleged they were owed R400-million by the department. In July Sowetan reported that pupils in some parts of the province had missed school due to the dispute.
Parents took to the streets of Klarinet, near eMalahleni, on Tuesday demanding their children be bused to school.
Most children in the new township of Klarinet extension 6, 7 and 8 attend schools in KwaGuqa township more than 10km away. Others travel more than 5km.
The draft policy on scholar transport by the department of transport states that pupils who walk more than 5km to school must be provided with transport.
Before people were moved into the new township they stayed in informal settlements surrounding KwaGuqa and their children walked to school. Community leader Maybe Magagula said there were about 1300 children from Klarinet who attend schools in KwaGuqa.
She said five community members were arrested during a protest on Tuesday.
A group of community members protested outside the court yesterday demanding that they be released.
Some parents sent their children to school by taxi but others could not afford it.
Songezo Gushu, a Grade 10 pupil at Elikhanyisweni Secondary School, said if the situation was not back to normal by Monday he would start hitchhiking to school.
macupeb@sowatena.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Pupils stuck at home - scholar bus owners not paid
AN ADMINISTRATIVE bungle has left hundreds of pupils without transport to get to school.
Now with just weeks before the end-of-year exams parents are worried their children may have to repeat their grades next year.
The pupils in eMalahleni (Witbank) are victims of a dispute between scholar transport operators and the Mpumalanga provincial government.
Bus operators stopped ferrying the children to school, demanding that the department of public works, roads and transport pay an outstanding debt they claim dates back to 2006.
The operators alleged they were owed R400-million by the department. In July Sowetan reported that pupils in some parts of the province had missed school due to the dispute.
Parents took to the streets of Klarinet, near eMalahleni, on Tuesday demanding their children be bused to school.
Most children in the new township of Klarinet extension 6, 7 and 8 attend schools in KwaGuqa township more than 10km away. Others travel more than 5km.
The draft policy on scholar transport by the department of transport states that pupils who walk more than 5km to school must be provided with transport.
Before people were moved into the new township they stayed in informal settlements surrounding KwaGuqa and their children walked to school. Community leader Maybe Magagula said there were about 1300 children from Klarinet who attend schools in KwaGuqa.
She said five community members were arrested during a protest on Tuesday.
A group of community members protested outside the court yesterday demanding that they be released.
Some parents sent their children to school by taxi but others could not afford it.
Songezo Gushu, a Grade 10 pupil at Elikhanyisweni Secondary School, said if the situation was not back to normal by Monday he would start hitchhiking to school.
macupeb@sowatena.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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