Parents urged to report dangerous overcrowding

SCHOLAR transport operators should not load passengers more than the required load limit of a car when transporting children to and from school, and parents should report irregularities to Santaco offices so that transgressors can face consequences.

- GCWALISILE KHANYILE

This is according to Sifiso Shangase, KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson for the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco).

Shangase was speaking after one of the parents raised a concern that they did not know where to report scholar transport operators who are flouting rules and endangering the lives of children.

The scholar transport is two-pronged: the government-subsidised and the private, operated by taxi associations and individuals.

Shangase said that the same complaints procedure used by the public to lodge complaints about taxi operators and taxi drivers should be used for scholar transport.

“The load limit is the same as that of normal taxis. If the taxi used as a scholar transport has a limit of 15 passengers, then the operator can not load more than 15 children; if that happens, they must be reported to Santaco.

“Parents can go to any of the Santaco regional offices to lodge complaints, but when they get to the office, they must ask for a scholar transport representative. Contact numbers for scholar transport representatives are displayed on the notice board for all residents to access them,” Shangase said.

FOLLOWING multiple crashes involving scholar transport, the KZN Department of Transport has undertaken to enforce compliance with regulations. | File

He added that the taxi council is in the process of democratising scholar transport, with the election of the new leadership structure set to take place in November, starting at the regional level. The private scholar transport structure is currently under Santaco.

Shangase stated that when it comes to Hlokomela (the safety unit), it has nine members; two of them are under the scholar transport structure and their role is to deal with matters of victimisation, and review the operational processes of scholar transport, working in cooperation with two other modes — the mainstream, which is taxis, and the meter taxis.