North West Legislature Committee on Transport Management Condemns Safety Violations in Scholar Transport Services

The Portfolio Committee on Community Safety and Transport Management in the North West Provincial Legislature conducted an oversight visit to Boschpoort Combined School as part of the Legislature’s Oversight Week programme in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District. The programme aims to strengthen oversight and public participation, while promoting accountability and transparency in government.

During the visits, the Committee assessed 16 scholar transport vehicles that ferry approximately 202 learners from surrounding farms. While scholar transport vehicles are regularly assessed by traffic officers, previous inspections at the schools resulted in about 20 buses being charged for non-compliance, and nine of them discontinued from transporting learners. Despite summons being issued, one bus operator returned to service in violation of the charges.

During this week’s oversight, the Committee found that same bus still in operation and, upon inspection, it was immediately impounded due to serious safety violations. The bus was found to have a diesel container inside, torn seats, exposed wiring, and a faulty steering wheel that compromised its safe operation.

The Committee instructed the service provider to arrange an alternative, roadworthy vehicle to transport learners after school. In another incident, a different service provider was found using an Iveco minibus with a capacity of 26 seats to transport approximately 46 learners — a clear case of overloading that poses significant safety risks.
A member of the Committee, Hon. Smuts Matshe did not take kindly to this matter and lamented, “It is unacceptable for service providers to prioritise profit over the safety and lives of our children. Scholar transport must be safe, reliable, and compliant with the law at all times. We will not tolerate operators who blatantly disregard regulations and put learners at risk,” said Hon. Matshe.

The Portfolio Committee expressed deep concern over the disregard for learner safety by some transport operators and emphasised the need for stricter enforcement of road safety regulations to protect the lives of children.

Ends