NWPL COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY SAFETY AND TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT CONDEMNS SCHOLAR TRANSPORT FAILURES LEAVING MORE THAN 97 LEARNERS OUT OF SCHOOL

The North West Provincial Legislature Portfolio Committee on Community Safety and Transport Management, chaired by Hon. Freddy Sonakile, has strongly condemned scholar transport failures in Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality, which have reportedly left more than 97 learners out of school. This follows unannounced oversight visits conducted by the Committee at Matthews Mangope Secondary School in Shupingstad and Groot Marico Academy in Groot Marico on Tuesday, 06 October 2026.

At Matthews Mangope Secondary School, the Committee discovered that a service provider was using a 35-seater bus to transport learners despite being contracted to provide a 65-seater bus. Consequently, the bus has to make multiple trips, with some learners being collected extremely early in the morning and others arriving home late. The Committee instructed the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management to urgently hold the service provider accountable and ensure that the vehicle stipulated in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is provided. At Groot Marico Academy, the Committee was informed that more than 97 learners from surrounding villages, including Valkop, are currently out of school due to the absence of scholar transport. The school reportedly applied for scholar transport approximately two years ago. Despite route verification being conducted last year, transport has still not been provided.

Hon. Sonakile said the failure to provide transport was compromising learners’ education and futures. “It is completely unacceptable that in 2026 children can be sitting at home, not because they do not want to learn, but because government has failed to provide transport. These are children whose education and future are being compromised through administrative inaction. “The Department must immediately engage the Departments of Education and Social Development to locate these learners, establish their current circumstances and ensure that they return to school. With the academic year almost complete, this matter cannot be allowed to disappear into another administrative process. The Committee will follow it through until this violation of the learners’ right to education is remedied,” said Hon. Sonakile.

The Committee also discovered that documentation for one of the buses inspected reflected the name of a company different from the service provider contracted by the Department. This raised serious concerns, as similar discrepancies involving the same company had been identified during previous scholar transport inspections in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District. The Committee instructed the Department to investigate these discrepancies and submit a report within two days, explaining the contractual arrangements, ownership and operation of the affected vehicles. “We have moved beyond simply checking whether there is a bus parked on school premises. Our oversight now interrogates whether what government is paying for in the SLA is actually what learners are receiving on the ground.

“Where a contract says a 65-seater bus, we expect to find a 65-seater bus. Where a particular company has been contracted, the documentation and vehicles operating that route must correspond. Where there are discrepancies, we will demand answers, accountability and corrective action,” Hon. Sonakile concluded.
The Committee will continue conducting unannounced scholar transport oversight visits across the Ngaka Modiri Molema District from Wednesday, 07 October to Friday, 09 October 2026.

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