DA gives KZN Premier an ultimatum over Learner Transport following tragic accident

13 October 2016

The DA will today write to KZN Premier, Willies Mchunu, demanding that he deal with the Department of Transport’s (DoT) ongoing failure to deliver a Learner Transport policy aimed at ensuring safer transportation for scholars.

The move comes after yet another accident in the province yesterday which claimed the lives of the driver of a bakkie as well as that of a Grade 9 learner on the R612 near Highflats.  This after the vehicle collided head-on with a truck causing learners to be flung out of the back. 

The DA has today confirmed with the school that as many as 12 other children are critically wounded in hospital. We extend our sincere condolences to the families of those that passed away and to those whose children are injured.

It is an indictment against KZN’s Transport department that learners continue to be transported to school in the back of bakkies. For years now, the DoT has been talking about a Learner Transport Policy, aimed at ensuring safer transportation. Yet nothing ever happens.

As the province’s former long-standing Transport MEC, the buck also stops with the Premier. 

The DA expects the Premier to take joint ownership of this issue with his successor MEC Mxolisi Kaunda and ensure that a credible policy is drafted and implemented before any more learners are either injured or killed.

The DA expects a swift response from the Premier which must include definite timeframes. This policy is needed now – not next year or even the following.

In the event that the Premier does not respond to our call, the DA will be forced to write to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and request their intervention.

Issued by Rafeek Shah, DA KZN Spokesperson on Transport, 13 October 2016