School transport is in crisis, National Treasury admits
A lack of school transport leaves learners stranded.
Image: Freepik
National Treasury has admitted that scholar transport is a national crisis after being taken to task by the Eastern Cape over operators not being paid, leaving learners with no way to get to school.
During a recent National Council of Provinces Committee meeting, Joseph Britz, the DA’s permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces for the Eastern Cape, said that the current transport system was ineffective.
Britz argued that he did not believe the National Treasury appreciated the magnitude of the problem in the Eastern Cape. As of the end of 2025, the issue remained unresolved, he said.
Operators had not been paid, and children were still unable to get to school because of an ineffective system, Britz said. He said that much more action was required from Treasury to help the Eastern Cape address this issue.
Ogalaletseng Gaarekwe, deputy director-general of Intergovernmental Relations at National Treasury, acknowledged that scholar transport was a national crisis.
According to the 2024 General Household Survey, nearly two-thirds of learners, or more than 10 million young people, walk to school daily in South Africa.
A January 2025 paper published in the Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management found that, for some learners, the journey of learning begins with the often challenging journey to school.
“Physical and geographical barriers, such as long distances, harsh weather conditions and inadequate transportation services, can impede access to educational opportunities in South Africa,” the authors said.
The paper added that, in these circumstances, scholar transport services have emerged as critical interventions, serving as bridges across these barriers and promoting educational equity.
Yet, they noted that a fifth of learners were left stranded, “highlighting a widespread problem throughout the country”. The paper also stated that “in 2023, a significant number of learners in the Eastern Cape failed to attend school for the first term because of the lack of transport”.
The article in the Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management also noted that the Eastern Cape wasn’t alone in this situation, as large numbers of students in KwaZulu-Natal were also without transportation.
This comes in a country where almost 60% of South Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed, with Statistics South Africa’s research noting that the level of education vastly influenced the extent to which someone was employable.
Gaarekwe said National Treasury would need to return to the Department of Basic Education to discuss how to address the issue.
In its written reply, National Treasury said, “provinces are encouraged to revisit the scholar transport model to improve efficiency and accountability, ensuring funds are used effectively without duplication”.
Yet, Gaarekwe agreed that many of the matters raised were recurring requests. She stated that the National Treasury needed to consider what could be done by February to ensure it could provide better responses when the issues returned.
Government schools are due to re-open on January 14.
Gaarekwe also noted that the National Treasury would need to find practical ways to work with the transport sector to address the challenges, particularly those affecting scholar transport and bus services.
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