SEDIBENG – Dozens of scholar transport operators in the Vaal took to the streets of Sebokeng on November 2 during a street parade and their first annual roadshow in the region.

According to leaders of different associations affiliated with Gauteng Education Transport Services (GETS), the parade was to send a message to parents and make themselves visible.

Ster attended the roadshow and spoke to the provincial chairperson who details the reasons for the roadshow.

Bongani Mokgashane Gauteng GETS provincial chairperson said the roadshow started in two different regions before being taken to Sedibeng.

“This is the third leg of our roadshow which we are embarking on. We started in the West Rand, went to Greater Johannesburg, and are now in Sedibeng, which forms part of the Gauteng council.”

“The purpose of this roadshow is to rise to the challenges our members face daily and reclaim our space in the transport industry. In the past, we didn’t take ourselves seriously and never did groundwork, which left many of our people disgruntled. Now we are taking action and reaching out to our members on the ground to ensure they are satisfied,” he said.

Mokgashane touched on some of the issues faced by the scholar transport industry in the province including mushrooming makeshift operators who are penetrating the space of scholar transport.

“We need to understand that we are business people. For a business person to take themselves seriously, one [the association] needs to apply business ethics. These are some challenges we touched on during our roadshow. Our members need to understand that we are not just people who wake up in the morning and take kids to school, but business people,” he said.

“We are faced with issues of some operators taking our space. Hence, we are working on our visibility as an organisation,” he added.

Some of the associations that formed part of the roadshow comprise of Greater Vaal Scholar Transport, Masibambisanane Transport Association, and many more.