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Fochville horror crash highlights need for urgent, comprehensive scholar transport reform

Fochville horror crash highlights need for urgent, comprehensive scholar transport reform
From left: Thato (8), Sihle (12), Hlompo (11) and Reneilwe (7), all siblings of Hlalele family. The two boys and two girls, who attended Rocklands Primary School, all died in the horror Fochville, Gauteng, scholar transport crash on Wednesday. (Photos: Supplied / Gauteng Department of Education)
Michelle Banda
By Michelle Banda
30 Jul 2024
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The Fochville scholar transport accident on July 10, 2024, tragically claimed the lives of 11 pupils, highlighting the urgent need to address critical issues in South Africa’s scholar transport system. Problems such as insufficient funding, inadequate vehicle maintenance, and the challenges of regulating private transport providers underscore the crisis. Immediate action is required to ensure the safety and efficiency of scholar transport across the country.

Twenty days after 11 pupils together with their scholar transport driver lost their lives in a horror crash in Fochville, the motorist accused of causing the accident, Gert van Emmenis (55), faces charges of 12 counts of culpable homicide and reckless or negligent driving.

More than a week ago, after appearing at the  Fochville Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Van Emmenis was released on R20,000 bail, and the case was postponed to 15 October for further investigation. This delay leaves the families of the deceased in limbo, yearning for closure. Sadly, the Fochville tragedy was not an isolated incident.

The exact number of pupils affected by scholar transport issues, including injuries and fatalities from accidents, is unknown. However, every year numerous scholar transport-related incidents occur across the country.

Just last Monday, 11-year-old Lifalethu Mbasana, a learner from Simon’s Town School in Cape Town’s Deep South, had to walk at least 13km of his more than 70km journey home to Khayelitsha after being kicked off the bus for losing his ticket. Other incidents include:


  • Klipvoor Stadt and Ga-Rasai scholars in North West in January 2024 were left stranded after their government-sponsored scholar transport failed to turn up to take them to school.

  • Twelve-year-old learner Kagiso Maloka from Modiselle Primary school in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, died in early February 2024  after falling from a moving scholar transport bus near his home.

  • In February 2024 in North West province, 51 learners were involved in a horrific accident after their scholar transport driver lost control of the bus in Welverdiend near Lichtenburg.

  • Two primary school learners died following an accident in which a minibus scholar transport vehicle overturned on the R37 between Lebowakgomo and Burgersfort, Limpopo, in March 2024. According to reports by Limpopo Chronicle newspaper, 20 other learners were also injured after their driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle.

  • In May 2024, several scholar transport operators went on strike in the Eastern Cape after the provincial transport department failed to pay their fees on time.

  • Children between the ages of seven and 11 years old died after a vehicle transporting them to school crashed in May 2023 in AZ Berman Drive, Mitchells Plain, in the Western Cape.


Department of  Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the main challenge in the National Scholar Transport Policy was the lack of capacity to transport all qualifying learners. 

“That means many learners still walk to school due to a lack of sufficient funding due to economic constraints in the country.”

While it has been reported that the lack of regulation in the industry compounds these issues, in each province the Department of Transport is responsible for administering and managing learner transport, while the Department of Basic Education provides funding and identifies beneficiary learners. Although there is a national policy on scholar transport, provinces like Gauteng and Western Cape have created their own transport policies.

National Scholar Transport Policy


The National Scholar Transport Policy aims to create a consistent framework for addressing learner transport challenges. Its key objectives are to standardise norms and standards, foster coordination among stakeholders, and provide a framework for monitoring and evaluating transport services. The policy emphasises operational safety, efficiency, broad access, equity, sustainability, and multi-modal integration. Subsidised transport targets learners from grades R to 12 who live in areas lacking public transport and face long walks to school of more than three kilometres.

While these policies are well-intentioned, inadequate funding and poor implementation have led to an increased reliance on private operators. These operators are often poorly regulated and can pose safety risks.

A group of pupils await for transport on 23 July, 2014, in Klarinet, Mpumalanga, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images/Sowetan/Veli Nhlapo)



Thabo Maponya, the chairperson of the Bokamoso Scholar Transport Association, a private scholar transport service provider based in Soweto, told Daily Maverick that there was a lack of engagement from the education department with the sector.

“There are a lot of issues that we are going through. We have been trying to engage with the government to intervene. We have been shut out; they don’t want to give us time or an ear. The only time they want to speak to us is when something has happened, an accident, for example... This is an environment where anyone can just come in and be a scholar transport service, because we also cannot monitor that. From drivers with no licences, parents not caring enough to send their children to transports they have not vetted themselves, and unroadworthy vehicles. We need their help on that.”

Read in Daily Maverick:Grieving Gauteng family calls for swift probe into Fochville horror crash that killed 11 pupils

Collen Msibi, the national spokesperson for the Department of Transport, told Daily Maverick that the policy was found to be relevant and in line with the government's broader policies affecting the poor by an evaluation undertaken by the Department of Transport, in conjunction with the departments of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, and of Basic Education.

fochville horror scholar transport crash From left: Thato (8), Sihle (12), Hlompo (11) and Reneilwe (7), all siblings of Hlalele family. The two boys and two girls, who attended Rocklands Primary School, all died in the horror Fochville crash in Gauteng on Wednesday. (Photos: Supplied/Gauteng Department of Education)



Msibi said that at the centre of the nationwide scholar transport issues was the lack of enough financial resources for scholar transportation. He said: “According to the provinces, it hinders full implementation of transport services to cover the scope of all learners who require transportation to learning institutions.” 

He added: “Road crashes are a major concern during the transportation of learners. A bigger percentage of these crashes affects privately arranged learner transport. The subsidised learner transport managed by the government has fewer road crashes. The integration of scholar transportation, as well as the closure and rationalisation of schools, have led to learners walking long distances to schools. 

Increased demand


“This has increased the demand for learner transport. This issue is more prevalent in schools that are in rural provinces. The migration of learners from one province to another, particularly to Gauteng, has increased the need for scholar transport, necessitating a corresponding budget allocation increase in Gauteng. The lack of a financial framework providing uniform costing and remuneration models for implementing the National Learner Transport Policy inhibits policy implementation. In addition, there is also a lack of a dedicated learner transport electronic system as well as insufficient staffing to manage and monitor the programme.”

It seems that addressing these multifaceted issues requires immediate, coordinated action from both the Department of Transport and the Department of Basic Education, alongside increased financial investment and stringent regulation to ensure the safety and reliability of scholar transport nationwide. DM

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