As long as we have unregulated school transport, we’ll always have unskilled drivers transporting our kids.
These drivers put pupils’ lives are at risk.
This is a major issue which needs to be addressed before more lives are lost.
Our kids’ safety is in the hands of drunk, negligent and reckless drivers.
The regulation of school transport should be accelerated.
Those responsible for killing and injuring pupils must be punished.
We keep hearing of pupils dying on our roads because of unroadworthy vehicles, as well as unlicensed and irresponsible drivers.
The school commute has been a key challenge in South Africa for many years.
Pupils in both rural and urban areas still have difficulty getting to school safely.
The department of transport should enforce stricter laws on drivers.
A good start would be to have unique branding on all scholar transport vehicles so they can be easily identified.
As things stand, these vehicles are ticking time bombs waiting to explode. They should be outlawed.
All operators must be licensed, have the correct vehicle licences and should be registered with a provincial regulatory entity.
My advice to pupils is that no matter which scholar transport you use, remember to stay safe.
Always buckle up and never take any favours from strangers – not even if they offer you a free ride to school.
Let us continue working together to make South Africa’s roads safer for our children.
Nelson Kgatla, Pretoria North
