Amanzi Primary School in Kariega, Eastern Cape.
Thamsanqa Mbovane/GroundUp
- Pupils affected by defunct scholar transport systems are left to travel long distances, sometimes by foot or through hitchhiking.
- This is the case for Amanzi Primary School in Kariega, where one pupil walks or hitchhikes more than 13km to school daily.
- Eastern Cape transport department’s spokesperson Unathi Binqose said the previous year’s transport contracts had lapsed.
On the day schools opened, a 13-year-old Grade 6 pupil and his 12-year-old sister had to walk and hitchhike more than 13km and back again to go to school.
The children from NU29 in Motherwell, Gqeberha, are among about 50 pupils in the informal settlement left in the lurch because the scholar transport contract for Amanzi Primary School in Kariega lapsed.
Last year, they were ferried by three minibus taxis. This year, there is no sign of any transport for them.
Their parents are struggling to find them places.
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A teacher told GroundUp since last week, the boy has been leaving home at 06:15 and arriving at school at around 07:15.
“He doesn’t want to attend other schools and prefers Amanzi Primary,” the teacher said.
The boy’s sister (in Grade 5) no longer hitchhikes with him because she is one of the school’s top athletes and is staying at the principal’s residence in Kariega.
Last year, the education department told Amanzi Primary it was facing closure under a rationalisation programme.
A primary school must have 135 pupils to be considered viable. It currently has 82.
Yet besides the 50 pupils in NU29, there are another 36 pupils in the Area 11 informal settlement in KwaNobuhle who also wish to attend Amanzi Primary.
They live in bungalows created during the Covid-19 pandemic for households with elderly people or people with disabilities.
The pupils were “recruited” by the Quality of Learning and Teaching Campaign, comprising teachers and school governing board (SGB) members.
Amanzi Primary SGB chairperson Patricia Dyeli said Enkululekweni Primary in NU29 was full, as was Noninzi Luzipho Primary in Area 9.
Dyeli added:
A total of 87 learners from two different informal settlements have not been able to set foot at school last week, except the boy who is hitchhiking.
Area 11 is 27km from Amanzi Primary.
The secretary of the Uitenhage and District Taxi Association, Zusakhe Tom, said they had a scholar transport contract for two taxis but only in the Amanzi farm area, not to NU29.
Eastern Cape transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said the previous year’s contracts had lapsed.
He added: “The onus is on the parent to fund transport if they prefer a school of choice. There are also risks involved for a 13-year-old to travel long distances to and from school alone and we don’t encourage that.”