Frustration remained rife among parents of school learners in Mamelodi last week, as learners were unable to attend school due to lack of transport.

But this week Gauteng Education said that the situation has been turned around.

The disruption has left thousands of learners around Gauteng, including Mamelodi, stranded without transport after bus operators halted services due to unpaid invoices.

The disruption of transport led parents to picket outside the Mamelodi Teachers’ Centre on February 6, demanding answers about school transportation services.

The frustrated parents chanted: ‘Where there is no school transport, there is no school’.

They said their children have the right to free education, but that right is being denied because of issues between the Department of Education and the service providers.

They called on the Department of Education and all other relevant authorities to act immediately.

The parents, together with the Mamelodi community, believe their children have been falling behind with their studies and the future of their children is at risk.

At the protest, Nkele Lekganyane from the Keledi Ya Mme organisation, representing learners and frustrated parents, said their children are not the problem; the problem is the system responsible for school transport.

“We are gathered here today as parents, not as troublemakers, not as criminals, and not as politicians, but as concerned mothers and fathers,” said Lekganyane.

“For days now, our children have been unable to attend school due to the lack of scholar transport,” said Lekganyane.

“This is not their fault. It is not the fault of parents who are struggling daily to survive. It is a failure of the system that is meant to protect and serve our children.”

The parents, wearing black T-shirts, a symbol of pain, seriousness, and unity, said that all they want is education for their children.

Lekganyane added, “We stand together as parents because silence has not helped us. Letters have not helped us. Waiting has not helped us. This march is an emergency call.”

One of the parents, Sonto Motau from Leeuwfontein, said the children have started asking questions about the buses.

“We want nothing but school transport, and we want transport now, not tomorrow or next week.

“We are demanding immediate action. We are demanding that school transport be restored without delay.”

Minki Magobosha from the Newtown informal settlement said that, as the majority of parents are not working, they are unable to send their children to private schools or to pay for local school transport.

“We cannot have our children roaming around the streets all day; what are they going to eat? Because at schools at least there is a feeding scheme,” said Magobosha.

Adressing the protestors, Daniel Tloubatla from the Department of Education said the department acknowledges and understands the frustration of parents.

He confirmed that the department’s role is to make sure that learners are in class.

“Our vision is very clear: each and every learner should feel valued and inspired, as they are the future leaders of this country.

“The department is aware of the strike by service providers, who are raising two issues,” said Tloubatla.

The first is the issue of payments, which is the responsibility of the Department of Education, and the second is harassment from the police and traffic authorities, and the Department of Transport.

He added, “Once the transport issue is resolved, we are going to have a catch-up programme for the learners who were unable to come to school.”

On February 10, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane announced that an agreement has been reached with scholar transport operators to resume transporting learners from Monday, February 16.

Chiloane highlighted that they have managed to resolve the payment issue with the transport service providers.

He said the department is happy that the matter has been resolved and operations will commence soon. The MEC has also apologised to the learners and parents affected.

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