The Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Appropriations, Dr Mmusi Maimane, has expressed profound shock and sadness following a devastating road accident involving a private scholar transport vehicle, which claimed the lives of 13 school learners from the Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark areas of Gauteng.
Dr Maimane and members of the committee convey their heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, schools and communities affected by this tragic loss. Dr Maimane described the incident as a painful reminder of the daily dangers facing many learners as they try to access education.
“This tragedy should never have happened. The loss of young lives in this manner is heartbreaking and deeply disturbing and highlights long-standing and systemic challenges in scholar transport across the country. Through its oversight work, including a recent oversight visit in the Eastern Cape, the committee repeatedly identified scholar transport as a critical weakness that undermines learners’ constitutional right to basic education and places their safety at unacceptable risks,” said Dr Maimane.
Dr Maimane said the committee is of the firm view that public funding of scholar transport is a critical and urgent matter that requires coordinated national intervention. In this regard, the Standing Committee on Appropriations has formally requested an urgent engagement with the Department of Transport, the Department of Basic Education, and all nine provincial MECs for Education to address scholar transport provision, safety standards, funding adequacy and regulatory oversight.
“The committee has observed consistent patterns across provinces, including insufficient funding for scholar transport, limited coverage that forces learners to walk long distances, and the use of unsafe or unregulated private transport. Where transport is provided, there are ongoing concerns about overcrowding, unroadworthy vehicles and inadequately licenced drivers,” Dr Maimane said. He stressed that these challenges cannot be addressed by provinces acting in isolation and require a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach between national and provincial government departments.
“We must work together to find long-term, sustainable solutions that ensure learner transport is safe, dependable, properly regulated and adequately funded. If we fail to act with urgency, we risk more preventable tragedies like this one,” he warned.
Dr Maimane concluded by saying that the Standing Committee on Appropriations expects this matter to receive serious consideration during the upcoming budget process and is hopeful that the Minister of Finance will consider the urgent need to strengthen funding and oversight for scholar transport when tabling the 2026 National Budget.
Africa Fact: In the Malian city of Gao stands the Mausoleum of Askia the Great, a weird sixteenth century edifice that resembles a step pyramid.
Preach Man
Why was Dr. Jekyll banned from South Africa? Because he was a part Hyde
Carrot Joker
Van is getting married, but he and his fiancee have never done the deed – in fact he\’s never been with any woman before. He\’s getting more and more nervous as the big day approaches, so he confides in his friend. His friend says \’No worries man. I\’ll come by the honeymoon suite before you guys get there, and I\’ll hide behind the curtain, and I\’ll whisper instructions to you.\’
\’You\’d do that for me?\’
\’Sure thing man!\’
So the wedding day arrives, it was a lovely service (so I was told, I wasn\’t there myself) and Van\’s friend sneaks into the honeymoon suite as promised and hides behind the curtain.
Van and his new wife arrive in the room, get settled on the bed, and things are getting steamy.
But Van is still super nervous and his tummy is bubbling, so he murmers to his wife, \’Listen babe, I\’m just gonna go to the bathroom quick. I think it\’s that wors roll from earlier.\’
\’Sure thing babe.\’
So Van goes into the bathroom, and he\’s taking quite a long time. And his wife is starting to feel the nerves herself. And it\’s getting worse. She can\’t hold it in. But she doesn\’t want to go after he\’s gone and totally ruin the mood. So she looks around and finally finds a shoebox. Quickly, she does her business in the shoebox, and she shoves it under the bed just as Van comes back from the loo.
Van gets back on the bed and they go at it again. But after a minute or so Van smells something not so lekker.
\’What\’s that smell?\’
\’Nothing babe,\’ he wife tries to assure him.
\’No man there\’s definitely something not so lekker in this room!\’VSo Van starts looking around the room, in the corners, in the cupboard, and finally he looks under the bed, and sees the shoebox.
He pull it out, and opens it up, and in horror he shouts \’Sies! Daar\’s kak in hierdie doos!\’
And from behind the curtain his friend yells, \’NEE MAN, DRAAI HAAR OM!\”