GOOD Statement by Peter de Villiers
GOOD Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament
2 June 2023
Parents in the Western Cape are facing ever-increasing challenges to keep their children safe, and in a quality neighbourhood school.
The absence of sufficient public transport, a lack of scholar transport, and a shortage of quality schooling in densely populated communities, like Mitchells Plain, have created a toxic mix that is threatening the future and lives of children.
This week five school children lost their lives in a horror crash when the bakkie they were traveling to school on crashed in Mitchells Plain.
While many have decried the illegal and shocking transportation of the young learners, many Western Cape communities know that this was not an isolated incident. They know that there is an absence of safe public transport, a shortage of properly regulated scholar transport and a scarcity of schools in close proximity to home.
The lack of proper learner transportation, along with the failure by law enforcement agencies to address overloading and illegal private schemes, leave many of our children in often extremely dangerous situations.
These glaring gaps in public and scholar transport becomes even more evident when children find themselves living in communities without enough schools to accommodate the growing numbers.
While the Western Cape Government continues to claim that it is a province of choice for many South Africans, it seems uninterested in ensuring that the necessary services, schools and infrastructure keep up with the expanding communities outside of their usual priority areas.
To add further insult to injury, the provincial school placement application process once again has parents in extreme panic, with children not placed within their catchment areas, or simply, not placed in a school at all.
The Western Cape Education Department needs to urgently develop and implement a transportation plan for learners who require assistance to get to school. It should also work in consultation with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that safety measures are in place and adhered to when it comes to the transportation of our children.
The Department further needs to urgently revise the current school placement system, which is simply overrun by technical glitches and seems to not do the one thing it’s supposed to – place children in the best-suited schools.
Media Enquiries:
Peter De Villiers, GOOD Member of Western Cape Provincial Parliament
Cell: 079 116 8957
Email: devilliers.pt@gmail.com
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za