Precious cargo
MEC for Education Senzo Mchunu’s concern and frustration at the rising death toll of schoolchildren in traffic accidents in KwaZuluNatal is understandable. But his immediate response to ban school excursions is not necessarily the correct remedy.
More than two dozen children have died in accidents on school trips in recent weeks, the latest being on Saturday when 10 primary pupils were killed in Bergville.
In any society, such avoidable tragedies would be unacceptable and there would be a public clamour for drastic action to be taken by the authorities to stop the carnage.
The MEC clearly appreciates the gravity of the situation, which is why he has ordered an immediate ban on all school trips until at least the end of the year. But this is a knee-jerk reaction to a problem that needs multi-faceted solutions.
There are many more public schools that have long-standing, accident-free relationships with bus transport operators.
That fact should have been taken into account before a decision to ban all trips was taken.
A compromise would have been for the department to consider an application from each school on its merits.
Yes, it is true many disadvantaged schools are at the mercy of unsafe and unreliable public transport and, as a result, scores of pupils have died needlessly over the years. Something has got to be done about that.
But deadly accidents on our roads – more than 14 000 people were killed last year – are a societal problem that needs a comprehensive national plan to deal with the offenders.
The MEC or KZN alone cannot solve it on their own.
Sure, the MEC can start the process in his patch by working closely with his transport counterpart in the provincial government as well as schools and parents. Among other measures, the Transport MEC should order the traffic police to enforce the long-promised crackdown on unsafe pupil transport.
Such vehicles should also be subject to accreditation and regular safety inspections to ensure that owners keep them in good working condition or lose their licences.
But, ultimately, it is schools and parents who need to participate in the process by insisting that only operators with an impeccable safety and reliability record are allowed to transport their children.