By Siliziwe Mahambehlala
In a country where access to education is supposed to be free for all, learners from Seven Fountains Farm experience a different kind of “free for all”.
On 12 March, Eastern Cape Finance, Economic Affairs and Tourism MEC, Mlungisi Mvoko, presented the province’s budget.
In his speech, the MEC stated that the Scholar Transport Program is a critical vehicle in ensuring that all learners, especially those in rural areas, get to receive quality learning.
In addition to this, the MEC said, over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), an amount of R2.2 billion has been allocated to the Department of Transport in order to provide scholar transport, with R725 million allocated for the 2024/25 financial year. The two departments involved in this program, the Department of Education and Transport, are responsible for providing credible data on the number of kilometres used as well as the capacity of vehicles, the MEC stated.
Recently, a Grocott’s Mail team met with residents of Seven Fountains Farm and saw first-hand the harsh reality of learners who have been left to look to their struggling parents for transport to school.
Parents who spoke to Grocott’s Mail expressed frustration with the Department of Education, accusing the department of failure to provide their poor children with transport to commute from Seven Fountains to Makhanda, where they attend school, about 30km away.
Due to lack of employment opportunities in Seven Fountains and surrounding areas, the parents said they could not afford to pay for their children’s school transport.
“There was a time when my grandchildren, who are in grades 8 and 10, did not go to school for three consecutive days because there was no transport available,” said one of the parents, Nokholekile Menzi, 64.
Another parent, Thembisa Pikoli, 39, stated that on one occasion, her child had to hitchhike to make it to Makhanda in time for her test. A number of other parents, mostly women, shared similar stories of struggles with transport for their children in high school grades. There is currently no high school on the farm, only a primary school.
The local Lalibela Game Reserve, situated about 10 minutes from Seven Fountains, has apparently come to the residents’ rescue, not only in the school transport saga but also on their service delivery needs.
The parents told Grocott’s Mail that Lalibela Game Reserve pays half of each learner’s taxi fare every month, with the unemployed parents taking care of the other half. This is in exchange for the residents’ help at the game reserve.
Phindiwe Goduka, 37, is one of the parents who pay half of the transport fee and is also employed at the game reserve to work off the balance of the transportation fees. Goduka is dependent on her child’s social grant of R530, more than half of which goes towards the child’s transport, leaving her with a meagre R180 for the month.
Grocott’s Mail reached out to the game reserve and spoke to CEO and general manager Johann Lombard.
He said the reserve is involved in the positive growth and wellness of the learners of the farm, with the objective to help them get through high school and ultimately pass matric.
The reserve also ensures the children have access to sporting facilities so that they can develop skills in codes such as soccer, netball and cricket.
Lombard lauded the children’s positive attitude including their eagerness to participate and be involved in various after-school activities regardless of the various challenges that they face. Lombard stated that the reason behind their transport initiative was to help the learners have access to education. He hoped that the government would soon hear the residents’ calls and improve service delivery on the farm, including providing the learners with the necessary transportation.
To try and get the government’s response to the transport debacle, Grocott’s Mail contacted the Department of Education’s spokesperson, Malibongwe Mtima, but he referred Grocott’s to the Department of Transport, the responsible department. Mtima explained that his department’s role ends at the point of capturing the number of learners who need transport. They then send the number of learners to the transport department.
Transport Department spokesperson Unathi Binqose started by commending the Seven Fountains parents for their sacrifices for their children’s education. Binqose acknowledged that it’s the government’s responsibility to provide a scholar transport service to the learners. He assured the parents that following Mvoko’s budget speech, all deserving learners would receive the necessary transport assistance in the second quarter of the school year. Binqose also stated that preference would be given to all the learners from rural and farm areas.
