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By Thabo Sematle
Community Safety and Transport Management MEC, Dr Mpho Motlhabane condemns vandalism of contracted learner transport buses by the learners in the province. 

Motlhabane condemned the recent incident where learners of Blydeville in the Ditsobotla Municipality vandalized the scholar transport bus.

“This bus transport learners was from their residence in Blydeville to Boikhutso Village. The arrangement was made since there is no high school in Blydeville and many of these learners had to walk long distances to the nearest school. 

“What saddens the department is that this operation has not been very long in the area, it’s only been a month in operation but already been vandalised,” Motlhabane said.

He further said the operation came recently as an intervention after the community demanded the service which they have since acceded to. 

“Through the involvement of the Ditsobotla Local Municipality and the Department of Education and Sport Development, we then made means to introduce an operator here.

“Again in recent weeks, learners from Welverdien in the same area of Ditsobotla also protested and demanded learner transport operation after the operator who was contracted by the department withdrew his services in the area following continuous vandalism of his bus,” he said.

Motlhabane added that the service provider wilfully terminated his contract with them due to continuous vandalism of his bus. He further said the department had to start the procurement processes of appointing another service provider.

“It was notably disturbing that the same learners who led the previous service provider to terminate his contract, have now ran to the media and claimed not to be attending school because they don’t have transport, whereas they are the ones that drove the service provider away,” Motlhabane.

The MEC said if learners and communities continue with this kind of behaviour, the department will end up struggling to get learner transport service providers in certain areas of the province. “No one will allow his property to be damaged especially deliberately. We humbly request our learners to behave and stop these strange acts of vandalism,” he said.

Motlhabane said the department continue to be committed to provide learner transport service to learners traveling more than 7km to schools across the province.

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