HOFMEYR NEWS - Learners of Hofmeyr, Tarkastad and Middelburg farm schools are once again stranded at home with no transport to their schools. This comes after the bus and taxi operators responsible for their transport have called a halt to their services, claiming that they have not received any payment from the Department of Transport this year.

At a provincial general meeting of scholar transport operators with the Department of Transport in East London on 18 April, representatives of all the operators in each area complained that no payments have been made. The decision was then taken that as from 19 April, there will be no transportation of learners until further notice.

The operators set out several conditions for resuming the service, which included the full payment for the January to March invoices that are outstanding.

According to a news release that was circulated by the transport operators to the headmasters of the affected schools, they have run out of money and resources to deliver this service as they have not been paid since the beginning of the year.

The operators stated that numerous letters from their side to engage with the Eastern Cape Department of Transport, have not yielded any results and no meetings have been accepted by the department either.

In a Facebook announcement on 9 April, the department said that all outstanding, legitimate and verified scholar transport invoices were to be settled within two weeks of the date of that announcement. It was also confirmed that at least 40% of the submitted invoices have been verified and were ready for payment on 9 April, but to date the complainants in the mentioned areas have not received any payment form the department.

One of the headmasters confirmed that he received a message from a transport operator saying that all the operators were on their way to the Department of Transport in East London on 23 April.

An article regarding the outcome of this meeting will be published at a later stage.

Currently, no learners are being transported to schools, and farm schools are reporting that only five or six children arrive at school. Teachers are continuing with their own administrative tasks, as required by the department, while the children play outside.

In an interview, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Transport Unathi Binqose said that there are many factors contributing to the delay in payments. He said that non-compliance of invoices, bank account irregularities, as wel as Sars and tax issues of the operators, are to blame for the non-payment of invoices.

"The Department of Transport has the money available, as the new tax year has already started, and payment to these operators will be issued as soon as their paperwork is compliant with the expectations of the Department," said Binqose.

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