‘The state is complicit’: Vaal tragedy sparks urgent calls to fix South Africa’s broken scholar transport system
The 22-year-old scholar transport driver involved in the horrific crash that killed 12 learners in Vanderbijlpark is expected to appear in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
The recent scholar transport crash that claimed the lives of pupils in Vaal, Gauteng, has reignited debate over the safety of outsourced learner transport and the state of South Africa’s public transport system, with labour union voices warning that the tragedy reflects deep-seated systemic failures rather than an isolated incident.
The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) said the crash should be viewed as both a criminal matter and a broader policy failure, arguing that the government has outsourced its constitutional responsibility to ensure safe scholar transport.
GIWUSA president Mametlwe Sebei said the taxi driver involved in the crash bore direct responsibility and must face the full might of the law.
“We lay the primary and direct responsibility for this tragedy at the feet of the taxi driver, whose reckless actions caused the collision,” Sebei said.
“There can be no excuse for the behaviour that led to this catastrophe. We demand immediate and swift prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.”
However, Sebei warned that focusing only on the driver risked obscuring what he described as a “tinderbox of systemic neglect” created by years of outsourcing and under-regulation.
“This tragedy is first and foremost a direct consequence of the government’s failed policy of outsourcing its constitutional obligation to provide safe scholar transport,” he said, adding that schools, colleges and universities should operate their own transport systems.
Twelve learners were killed when the scholar transport vehicle, a Toyota Quantum they were travelling in crashed into a truck in Vanderbijlpark in the Vaal, Gauteng on Monday.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
According to GIWUSA, the current scholar transport model relies heavily on a fragmented, profit-driven informal sector, often characterised by poorly trained drivers, overloaded vehicles and inadequate mechanical standards.
“The state has effectively handed children’s lives to an under-regulated and unmonitored system. It is a recipe for disaster, and today that disaster has claimed lives,” Sebei said.
The union also linked the crash to the wider deterioration of South Africa’s public transport and infrastructure, including crumbling roads, the collapse of passenger rail services and chronic traffic congestion.
“These conditions impose unbearable pressure on drivers, pushing them to speed, overtake dangerously and take risks simply to meet basic schedules,” Sebei said.
“The failure to invest in safe and efficient infrastructure makes the state complicit in these tragedies.”
General Industrial Workers Union of South Africa president Mametlwe Sebei.
Image: Itumeleng English/ Independent Media
GIWUSA called for a decisive shift away from outsourcing and privatisation towards a state-led, integrated public transport system. Its demands include the renationalisation of bus services, major expansion of passenger rail, the reintroduction of trams in cities and towns, and a professionally run, state-guaranteed scholar transport scheme.
The union also called for publicly funded training and certification of all public transport drivers, as well as improved working conditions and regulated hours for taxi drivers to reduce fatigue and unsafe practices.
“We need a system that serves people, not profit, and that connects workers and learners with dignity and safety,” Sebei said.
GIWUSA said it stood with the bereaved families in their demand for justice and urged authorities to ensure accountability for those directly responsible, while using the tragedy as a turning point to rebuild South Africa’s public transport system.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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