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Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has noted with great concern media reports regarding the taxi crash in KwaZulu-Natal today in which 16 pre-primary learners were injured.

Committee Chairperson Ms Nomalungelo Gina expressed her concern regarding the state of learner transport. “This is the second incident in less than a week. South Africans cannot allow the lives of learners to be cheapened in this way.

“Children and the youth are our future. Learners have a right to education and also to safety. They cannot be maimed or injured whilst being transported to school. Greater care should be taken.”

Ms Gina was responding to media reports that a taxi transporting the learners lost control and rolled several times on the Umgudulu Road in Reservoir Hill before landing on its roof. A case of reckless and negligent driving is being investigated. The learners were stabilised and taken to various hospitals.

Ms Gina said the Committee will raise the matter of learner transport with the Department of Basic Education, although she is aware that learner transport is a provincial competence and in some provinces it can either fall under the mandate of the provincial education or transport departments. “We will work with our sister Committee to ensure effective oversight on this matter,” she said.

The Committee further expressed its condolences regarding the accident in which 20 people died last week in Sokhulumi Village near Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng. The deadly crash occurred when a minibus taxi carrying 28 schoolchildren collided with a truck on the R25 road near Bronkhorstspruit on the border of Gauteng and Mpumalanga. “This is indeed a tragedy. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families of everyone involved during this difficult time,” said Ms Gina.

Ms Gina emphasised that learner transport cannot be neglected. She further urged parents and the community at large to be vigilant by reporting unroadworthy and unsafe vehicles that are used for learner transport.

The Committee will discuss the matter in its first meeting with the Department after the parliamentary recess period, which ends on 1 May 2017.

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, Ms Nomalungelo Gina