Gauteng's scholar transport services to resume after operators' 2-week strike

Scholar bus services in Gauteng are set to resume next week.

This, after the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) reached an agreement with operators who have been on strike for two weeks over non-payment.

After talking with stakeholders on Tuesday, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane assured operators that full payments would be made this week.

The strike affected more than 200,000 learners who depend on the buses to get to school.

“Monday full operations will be resumed and I am adamant I am confident that we are going to pay them I have said to the return to full service will be phased those with capacity and have infrastructure ready will begin work, they have requested a minimum of a day so we anticipate the shuttle will begin on Thursday, some on Friday but definitely Monday full service.”

ALSO READ: MEC Chiloane announces agreement with striking scholar transport operators

Chiloane revealed that the department’s scholar transport budget allocation is R800 million below the current spend.

He said his department is struggling to keep up with the number of new learners who come into the system every year, needing scholar transport.

Chiloane further said the annual R1.1 billion grant from the legislature has not been increased for a while now, despite the increasing number of children dependent on the service

The MEC has apologised for the disruption in services

“Because of the growth in the number of learners and the proliferation of informal settlements, these kids need to be transported to nearer schools, and we’ve been carrying this thing. It’s not growing, but the number of kids keeps growing, we have an obligation by law that once it's 5 kilometres we have to come in and that’s what we’ve been dealing with.”