Cape Town - The Western Cape Scholar Transport Association says it was able to ferry children to school without disruptions on Thursday.
This, after the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) issued a notice on Wednesday night, saying they would no longer intercept scholar transport in Khayelitsha and neighbouring communities.
Members of the taxi industry have been threatening and harassing the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) contracted drivers over the past weeks, to prevent them from transporting learners.
The WCED noted it as an attempt to muscle in on transport contracts and to extort money from the department, while Codeta alleged the department reneged on talks for their potential involvement in transporting learners to school.
Codeta said: “We would like all the people who transport our children to school to start doing so tomorrow morning. This is in exception of the buses, in this case. Codeta will provide transportation to these children free of charge from 16 February 2023 until 23 February 2023. This is to give the WCED (time) to resume the talks as soon as possible,” said Codeta.
Thousands of pupils, especially those from Academia Primary School in Khayelitsha, have been left stranded for nearly three weeks due to the intimidation of bus drivers by taxis drivers.
A woman driver from the the Western Cape Scholar Transport Association, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, said it was sad that they couldn’t transport pupils while the parents of children paid up.
“I attempted to deliver pupils at a school in Khayelitsha on Tuesday but taxi operators who were patrolling stopped me and ordered that I go back and drop off the children back to their homes.
“For the safety of children and our lives we have to obey. We are happy to be back today and that we transported children without being barred or threatened,” she said.
Cape Times