Lessons from the distressing ordeal of schoolboy Lifalethu Mbasana

Lifalethu and his mother Siba Mbasana. (Photo: Supplied)

By Velani Ludidi

30 Jul 2024

A supervised bus service for learners could have spared Lifalethu Mbasana from his traumatic 7½-hour ordeal after school last week.

Cape Town still bears the marks of apartheid-era city planning that show up in sad ways. Last week, Daily Maverick published the story of 11-year-old Lifalethu Mbasana who was kicked off a Golden Arrow bus for not having a ticket.

Lifalethu’s journey from Simon’s Town School in Cape Town’s Deep South to his home in Khayelitsha, more than 50km away, shows the tough realities many black and coloured families face today.

Lifalethu Mbasana Lifalethu and his mother Siba Mbasana. (Photo: Supplied)

Apartheid’s city planners intended to separate communities by race, pushing black and coloured people to the edges of cities, far from jobs, good schools and key services. Cape Town’s layout still reflects this cruel and unjust past.

Read more: Cape Town mother describes harrowing wait for son (11) who went missing after being kicked off bus

Khayelitsha, one of South Africa’s biggest townships, is far from Cape Town’s city centre and rich suburbs. This makes life hard for its residents, who spend hours travelling to and from work. The government has tried to fix these inequities, but progress has been slow and ineffectual.

Read more: Average Capetonians can’t buy any of the 900+ new apartments on Atlantic Seaboard

While there have been numerous policy proposals and initiatives aimed at redressing the geographic and socioeconomic imbalances, the impact has been minimal. Lifalethu’s story highlights the urgent need for more substantial and immediate action to dismantle the remnants of apartheid spatial planning.

The scholar transport crisis

The absence of dependable school transportation is a major shortcoming in meeting the needs of areas like Khayelitsha. A supervised bus service for learners could have spared Lifalethu from his ordeal.

Instead, children must travel long distances by themselves, often putting their safety at risk. The lack of school transport isn’t just an oversight, it’s a serious system failure. The Western Cape Department of Education does not even have a record of how many learners travel by public transport to school.

Read more: Grade 6 learner back at school – and on the bus after he was made to get off and make his own way home

This shows a wider disregard for what poor communities need. Many Khayelitsha children face a tough journey to school. They often need to walk, take minibuses and sometimes catch trains (when they are operational). Each of these options has dangers and problems.

The province does have a Walking Bus Project, which aims to ensure safe and supervised trips to and from school for learners in Cape Town communities that are ridden with gang activity. It features parents and volunteers walking groups of children to and from school.

While working on a permanent solution to ensure there is enough scholar transport for learners, the Walking Bus Project can be expanded and, just as the Western Cape government has partnered with Golden Arrow Bus Service (Gabs) to give free rides to job-seekers, it can offer incentives to volunteers who ensure that no schoolchild is left behind by buses.

Lack of humanity

The driver who kicked Lifalethu off the bus could have shown more humanity, especially since Lifalethu’s mother said that a younger child offered to pay for his ticket.

Additionally, Gabs has a policy that children under 13 wearing a school uniform should be allowed to ride even if they have lost their ticket. The driver is supposed to take the child’s details, which will then be followed up through company processes. However, some drivers have said that Gabs punishes drivers for adhering to this policy.

This claim remains unconfirmed, as no driver has come forward to verify that they were either suspended or given a warning for permitting a scholar to travel without a ticket.

It is important to note that the driver’s side of the story has not yet been shared or made public and investigations by Gabs are ongoing.

Beyond the actions of the bus driver, consider the immense distance between Khayelitsha and Simon’s Town — more than 50km. What time does Lifalethu, along with his schoolgoing siblings, need to wake up each morning to make this journey? How exhausted does he get, and can he concentrate at school after such a long commute?

What are we teaching our children at such a young age? Is it resilience, or are we reinforcing the harsh reality that inequality is a persistent part of their lives, one their parents have faced, they will face, and their children will probably face as well?

Just as concerning is how people treated Lifalethu during his trip. Reports say cars drove past without helping a child in school uniform walking by himself on the freeway. He did get a lift, but only to Strandfontein, because the driver was not travelling to Khayelitsha.

This lack of care points to a problem in society that goes further than just poor infrastructure. It reveals a bigger issue with how people feel about others and how they take care of their community.

In a society still dealing with apartheid’s aftermath, we need to build a culture that cares for everyone, including those who can’t protect themselves. When people see a child alone and in trouble, they should jump in to help.

Travelling to learn

Lifalethu had to make his perilous journey because he and his parents wanted him to get a good education.

In the Western Cape, social inequalities and school attendance are still closely tied to race and class. Many may wonder why Lifalethu’s parents did not enrol him at a school closer to home. Families living in under-resourced areas often seek quality education for their children in more affluent neighbourhoods, where former Model C schools are predominantly found. These schools, which provided high-quality education under apartheid, were once reserved for white pupils.

The “closer to home” admission approach is, at first glance, praiseworthy and desirable. However, it overlooks the disparities and spatial divide in the education system, where location often determines the quality of education. This approach has also been used as a means to exclude pupils who live in townships.

This forces parents to make difficult decisions and sometimes they opt for long commutes, despite the potential risks, in the hope of securing a better future for their children. The government’s failure to provide quality education within these communities perpetuates a cycle of inequality.

By neglecting to invest adequately in township schools, the state effectively forces families to seek alternatives far from home, exposing their children to the dangers highlighted by Lifalethu’s case.

His ordeal is a stark reminder of the enduring impact of apartheid spatial planning and the urgent need for systemic change.

It makes us think about what the government does and how we can give children safe rides to school and a fair education and build a kinder community.

The government should focus on making township schools better so children can get good schooling close to home.

Affordable housing closer to the CBD must be a priority because some parents send their children to schools close to where they work. We need to care more about each other and look out for those who need help.

As we reflect on Lifalethu’s story, we are reminded of the words of Nelson Mandela: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

It is time for South Africa to take note and act. DM

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The scholar transport crisis

Lack of humanity

Travelling to learn