Ekurhuleni schoolchildren sent home in face of scholar transport drivers' strike

Parents of pupils at the Rondabult Primary School in Ekurhuleni said they were shocked to see their children sent back home on Wednesday morning due to a bus strike.

The school decided to stop academic activities in the wake of some scholar transport drivers refusing to ferry pupils due to non-payment issues with the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE)

In a statement on Tuesday, the GDE said it acknowledged that some invoices were unpaid.

Some pupils from the school were affected on Tuesday when buses contracted to the department did not show.

A parent whose child uses private scholar transport said his child left the house at 7am and, to his surprise, came back at 9am.

“By 9 o’clock my child was back home. The lady that transports him told me that the school told them to turn back because some scholar transport drivers are on strike so there will be no schooling,” the parent said.

He said there was no communication from the school regarding the interruption of learning and teaching.

Another parent, Mbali Nkosi, said she is unemployed, adding that since the free bus services is no longer available due to the strike, she cannot afford to send her child to school. 

“It's not safe at all for children, there are so many risks here for them, they could be robbed because the route is close to an open veld and there are many cars there, they could also be hit by cars.”