Scholar transport service providers in the province say they are still waiting for outstanding payments from the provincial department of transport, nearly two weeks after a protest march to the Bhisho offices of premier Oscar Mabuyane.
The march, organised by the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) last month, saw frustrated operators demanding urgent intervention over what they described as months, and in some cases years, of non-payment by the department.
Santaco Eastern Cape convener Mzwandile Nkewana said the department had committed to beginning the payment process within a week after the march.
“The department did promise that within a week after the march they would start paying out, which they did, but they only paid a few operators from the Chris Hani and Joe Gqabi districts,” Nkewana said.
He claimed that about 95% of scholar transport service providers across the province were still waiting for payments.
Nkewana said even those who had received money were only paid for a single invoice, despite outstanding payments dating back to January.
“The payment process is slow and tedious because people had to sacrifice their own financial resources to keep up with debts while continuing to transport pupils,” he said.
According to Nkewana, the payment process only started last Friday and has been progressing slowly.
“Since we asked for the premier’s intervention, we did not give them a timeframe for when they should fully pay the service providers. But I was recently told that the list of demands we handed over is going to be attended to,” he said.
The operators stated during the march that if we are not paid, we will put our tools down and no scholar transport operators will transport school pupils in the province
Among the operators’ key demands are the immediate settlement of all outstanding payments, improved transparency in the administration of scholar transport contracts, and urgent intervention from the provincial government.
Nkewana warned that Santaco would seek another meeting with Mabuyane if there was no meaningful progress by Friday.
“The operators stated during the march that if we are not paid, we will put our tools down and no scholar transport operators will transport school pupils in the province,” he said.
Eastern Cape department of transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose confirmed that payments to scholar transport operators were continuing following the premier’s intervention and commitments made during the recent engagement with operators.
Binqose said delays were mainly caused by “technical and administrative processing challenges” that affected the capturing, verification and finalisation of some invoices within the department’s payment system.
“As a result, payments are being processed in phases, which explains why some operators may have received payment for one invoice while others are still awaiting processing,” he said.
Binqose said the department had allocated nearly R1bn, including R850m specifically budgeted for scholar transport, as part of efforts to ensure learner access to education across the province.
“The department’s current priority is to clear all legitimate outstanding invoices as speedily as possible. Officials remain hard at work processing payments, and engagements with operators are continuing,” he said.
He acknowledged the frustration experienced by operators and the impact the delays had on learners and schooling.
“It is for this reason that efforts remain focused on resolving the matter and stabilising the system,” Binqose said.
Daily Dispatch
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