The department of transport in the Eastern Cape has conducted a roadworthy inspection of all scholars transport contracted vehicles.
According to the department, this happened at various traffic testing stations across the Eastern Cape as the province gears up for the start of the 2025 school year.
Department’s spokesperson Unathi Binqose confirmed the inspections. She said it is a vital exercise to ensure that those vehicles, entrusted with ferrying learners to and from school, are roadworthy.
Inspections began on Monday
“The tests started on Monday, even though slowly, but some have undergone and passed the test. The department urges all operators to take this exercise very seriously. It is not only about compliance but mainly about the safety of the learners. They depend on these vehicles to access education.”
In 2024, the province recorded a number of road accidents that involved scholar transport. The major one was a bakkie transporting 14 school children from Oyster Bay Farm to Humansdorp High School. It was involved in a head-on collision with another bakkie in October.
The pupils were transported by the bakkie because the bus that normally transports them broke down. It broke down as it was on the way to fetch them.
Province focused on safety of learners
Recently, a bakkie carrying school children was involved in an accident on Bambisana road in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape.
Four people were seriously injured, including the driver and three school children. The bakkie they were travelling in lost control and overturned.
It had 15 people on board, 13 school children and two adults, including the driver.
The children were on their way to look for school placement ahead of the 2025 school year when the crash occurred. This according to the transport department.
A total of nine pupils were rushed to hospital, five were treated and released. Four were admitted in hospital, with one transferred to a hospital in Mthatha.
