Cape Town – Judgment in the Western Cape education department (WCED) interdict application against the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) over the scholar transport blockade is expected this week.
Arguments were heard in the Western Cape High Court on Friday and judgment is expected on Wednesday.
At the heart of the matter is Codeta’s interest in being included in transporting learners and claims that the WCED reneged on talks for their potential involvement, however the department said it noted Codeta’s actions as an attempt to muscle in on transport contracts and to extort money from the department.
The conflict saw thousands of learners in and around Khayelitsha being stranded, as the taxi association prevented scholar transport from operating, leaving schoolchildren stranded for about three weeks.
The WCED approached the courts for an interdict to prevent further interruptions.
Education MEC David Maynier said in the interim, the undertaking made before the court remains in force, preventing the taxi association from obstructing, interfering, and stopping the transporting of learners.
“Our contracted learner transport operations have now returned to normal, and the number of learners absent dropped to 280 on Thursday.
“We understand that parents remain concerned, but we encourage them to send their children back to school if they feel comfortable doing so, so that our teachers can determine how much work needs to be caught up and implement plans to do so,” Maynier said.
Codeta spokesperson Andile Khanyi said they have been abiding by the agreement to end the blockade and will continue to do so pending the judgment.
Cape Times