Parents and children of the Melusi squatter camp can now breathe a sigh of relief after the education department instructed the service provider to identify a pick-up point closer to the squatter camp. Children of Melusi who attend school at Kameeldrift Primary School had to walk about 5km to catch the bus in the morning and again in the afternoons when they finished school and needed to get home.
“Parents had to wake up sometimes to walk their children to Mahem, where they caught the bus. Now they are very happy, as the bus picks the children up at closer to home,” Pastor James Ndlovu said. After several attempts to get the education department to help the community solve the problem and after Rekord reported on the matter, the department finally fixed the problem.
Lucky Kgoetego, a parent of seven-year-old twin boys and a ten year-old-girl said that they are very thankful to Pastor Ndlovu for the big role he played in getting the school bus to fetch the children at a neutral place. He also said that the children do not wake up as early as they did before when they had to walk about 5km to Mahem.
“We instructed the service provider who services the areas around Kameeldrift Primary to reroute the bus and identify a closer pick-up point for learners from the Melusi and Gomora informal settlements,” the department’s spokesperson, Phumla Sekhonyane, said.
She said that the operation commenced on 20 February and the principal of the primary school was also requested to announce the new pick-up point.
“We are very happy and thankful that the bus fetches the children closer to home. I am relieved I do not have to wake up early in the morning to walk my child to Mahem,” Tshilidzi Masindi said. She said she also felt safer with the new arrangement and did not always have to call home to find out if her child was back from school. Parents are happy that their children are out of danger now and can get to school without being tired out by a long and dangerous walk.
