While most parents are excited to see their children go back to school for the 2026 academic year, road fatalities involving scholar transport remain a concern.
It is against this sombre backdrop that Thulasizwe Thomo, the Mpumalanga MEC for public works, roads and transport, has issued a blunt warning to scholar transport operators to put learner safety first as schools reopen next week.
Thomo urged all operators in Mpumalanga to ensure their vehicles are fully roadworthy and compliant with all legal requirements before transporting learners.
“As thousands of learners return to school after the recess, learner safety must remain a top priority,” Thomo said.
“We are appealing to all scholar transport operators to take full responsibility for the safety of learners by ensuring that their vehicles are mechanically sound, properly licensed and driven by qualified, sober, and responsible drivers.”
Six learners die in a horrific accident
His warning lands heavily in a province still haunted by the July 2024 tragedy outside Middelburg, where six learners were killed when a scholar transport bus collided with a goods train at a level crossing near Wonderfontein.
The crash injured several other pupils, prompting provincial and national calls for tighter safety controls due to the accident’s negligence.
The danger did not end there. Most recently, on September 11, 2025, a minibus taxi lost control and crashed into Senzokuhle Crèche and Pre-School in Imbali Unit 18, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, claiming the lives of five children aged between nine and 11 and leaving several others injured.
The next day, another scholar transport vehicle was involved in a crash along the same road. All children survived the second incident.
Earlier in March 2025, four pupils, including siblings, were killed in a scholar transport accident in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg, while other crashes left dozens injured.
Against that national pattern, Thomo said Mpumalanga would not take chances this year.
Vehicles transporting learners, he stressed, must undergo thorough inspections, including checks on brakes, tyres, and steering systems, in line with the National Road Traffic Act and related regulations.
Compliance monitoring to intensify
He further warned that the transport inspectorate will intensify compliance monitoring across the province, with a particular focus on scholar transport vehicles.
“We will not hesitate to act against operators who put the lives of our children at risk,” Thomo said.
“Operators found contravening the law will face fines, impoundment of vehicles and possible suspension of operating permits. Learners deserve to be transported in safe and reliable vehicles every day.”
The department has also called on parents, school management teams, and communities to play an active role by reporting unsafe scholar transport vehicles to authorities.
The MEC’s message, as classrooms prepare to reopen, is stark and unmistakable: the journey to school must not become a life-threatening experience.
