KZN Transport Budget Debate: Learner Transport – where is the money going?

Issued by Sharon Hoosen – DA KZN Spokesperson on Transport
16 Jul 2019 in Press Statements

Today we once again meet to assess the progress made by KZN’s Department of Transport (DoT) and to and highlight the many challenges that still need to be overcome.

Our country’s history created an unequal society. Despite this, South Africa has made progress in many areas since 1994. Yet we still have much more to achieve if we are to bridge the gaps between wealthy and poorer communities and, if we want to make a significant contribution towards bridging this gap, then we have to start with the children of our land.

We have to make sure that we do our very best to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves because of the disadvantage that they have suffered from the apartheid government. Children from poorer communities will never be able to compete fairly, with those from wealthier communities and if we do not bridge this gap, the inequalities of our past, will continue to haunt our communities into the future.

                                                                                              Learner Transport

Take for example the thousands of children in our province who have to walk many kilometres every day, to get to school while others have the benefit of being dropped off in front of their school gates. Then think of the thousands of learners in our province who must wake up every day before sunrise and leave home on an empty stomach. Many of these children walk long distances in all kinds of weather to receive a basic education and prepare themselves for adulthood, simply so that they too can enjoy the freedom that the citizens of this country fought for.

These are the children who actually take a long walk to freedom, every day. By the time they reach their schools, they are tired and hungry and will naturally have difficulty concentrating throughout the day. And then they have to walk back home, often getting there when it’s almost time for bed.

My question is – how can we expect to bridge the divides in our society when such massive inequality still exists? How can we expect these children to compete on an equal footing when their foundations are so unequal? My Debate today is dedicated to these children and in particular to the children who have lost their lives traveling to and from school, with or without access to learner transport.

The DA recognizes that since 2015 there have been advances within school learner transport in our province. But – the fact that we still have thousands of children who still walk long distances to school, should be an embarrassment to this ANC government.

After 25 years of democracy, no child in this province should have to endure these struggles just to receive an education. This is a matter that should be attended to as a matter of priority. Instead, the Learner Transport Programme has been bouncing between government Departments like an unwanted child. In fact, the Transport department has not even finalized a provincial policy on learner transport. This alone is an indication of just how seriously the Department takes this matter.

There are approximately 6 000 schools in this province. Currently, 320schools are accommodated under this project with the Department providing transport for about 55 000 learners in this province.

Since 2017, there has also been no growth whatsoever, towards the provision of additional support for rural communities.  Children with disabilities are being ignored and some communities are now approaching the courts to force the Transport Department to provide for their children.

Take Themba Dlamini for example, a 14-year-old disabled child from northern KZN who has to pay R250 every day to travel by taxi to school. His parents live off government grants. We have to admire the tenacity of his parents who still make every effort to ensure that young Themba receives an education. In KZN there are an estimated 138 000 children with disabilities who are not receiving an education at all simply because of a lack of transport to schools. These are the forgotten children of Mzansi.

And so, the question must be asked – where is the money going? This is the Department that sees fit to spend R11 million on consultants to monitor the Learner Transport Programme. The DA regards this as not only a shocking waste of valuable resources but also a move aimed at routing such resources towards unnecessary tenders.

                                                                                      Child safety

Not only is there a massive backlog in the provision of learner transport and wastage of valuable resources, the safety of our learners is also not given the attention it deserves. Children who have no choice but to rely on public transport, place their lives at risk everyday in overloaded taxis and busses in our province.

Far too often we hear horrific stories of children who have lost their lives while travelling on public transport to and from school. And when these incidents occur, politicians visit the families, offer their condolences, issue media statements and life goes on as normal until the next tragedy occurs. No requisite action follows.

And then there are those who are abused by government-funded programmes due to the lack of proper screening of people who transport children to schools.  Just recently a 12-year-old eManzimtoti pupil, who used learner transport to and from school, was found to have been raped on an ongoing basis by the driver.  She gave birth to a baby girl recently. Despite this horrific crime, three months after the incident was reported the driver had still not been arrested.

If you are a known sex offender in KZN, you can easily transport young girls to school and nobody will stop you. How? Because this Department does not have a plan or policy to protect our children. Anyone, even those without a valid drivers’ license can transport children to school because there is no proper screening or accreditation. There are also no regular checks on the roadworthiness of the vehicles used to transport children to schools. This is why so many of our children die in horrific accidents.

These are important and urgent matters that deserve immediate attention and the DA wants to know what the MEC is doing about it.

                                                                             Lawlessness on our roads

Our province has also seen a recent increase in lawlessness on our roads with xenophobic attacks on truck drivers once again giving our province a bad name. KZN is well known for this scourge. These incidents occur because people have lost confidence in this ANC government’s ability to manage migration in our country. So they take the law into their own hands.

These incidents have had a massive impact on the economy of our country. Businesses in our province have lost millions of rands and in order to survive, they have to recover these costs from consumers. This has only made life even more difficult for KZN’s citizens. Then there are the many businesses that are already considering relocating simply because they too are losing confidence in government’s ability to ensure that their trucks and businesses are protected on our roads.

While there has been a decrease in the number of attacks recently, these incidents can easily flare up again because millions of undocumented foreign nationals are roaming our streets without detection. In a country where 10 million people are walking the streets without jobs, we have to do everything in our power to reverse the growing trend of joblessness. This is a matter that the DA takes very seriously and will form the foundation of our approach in this 6th Democratic Administration.

Job creation

If there is any Department in KZN that can make a massive contribution towards creating jobs, it is Transport.(EDTEA????) By opening up new routes, creating new infrastructure and building bridges between businesses and communities, this Department has the potential to build a conducive environment for investment in our province. Instead, what we are seeing is the ongoing waste of resources and poor management of the little money that we do have.

A DA-led government would dedicate a greater share of the KZN Budget to frontline Departments critical for economic development, such as the DoT. We would also invest more in the latest IT systems to improve financial management and control and strengthen oversight of Supply Chain Management procedures. This would stem the leaking of much-needed funds through irregular expenditure and corruption. A DA-led government would also increase accountability and consequence management systems to deter officials contemplating corrupt activities.

The health and prosperity of our province and its people will never be assured under an ANC government. The future of KZN requires a Capable Developmental State. It is only the DA that can provide true assurance and hope.