It was a victory for thousands of learners in the Eastern Cape this week as the Makhanda High Court ruled that the provincial Education Department's failure to provide scholar transport to all learners in the province is "unconstitutional" and "invalid".
The judgment handed down by Judge Nicola Molony on Tuesday will affect approximately 40,000 learners requiring transport.
In her judgment, Molony acknowledged that "Thousands of learners in the Eastern Cape, particularly in impoverished and rural areas, have to travel long distances, often over perilous terrain, to get to school.
"Their families do not have the means to find sustainable solutions to this challenge. The negative ripple effect of this is obvious."
Molony directed the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDOE) and the Eastern Cape Department of Transport (ECDOT) to take steps to ensure that all qualifying learners will receive scholar transport for the 2025 academic year.
According to the judgment, all new applications and or requests for scholar transport must be decided by the end of next month.
In the case where the department has already decided, prior to the court order, the learner must be provided with transport within 20 days of the order.
In the event that requests for scholar transport are denied, the department must provide reasons for the refusal, an explanation of the appeals process, and the timeline for submitting and deciding appeals in writing.
In the event that an appeal is successful, the department is ordered that transport must be provided within 10 days of the appeal decision being taken.
The Legal Resources Centre (LRC), acting on behalf of the Khula Development Project in Peddie and numerous other schools across the province, welcomed the judgment.
Petros Majola of the Khula Development Project echoed the LRC's sentiment.
"Our duty is to advocate for Children's Rights and we continue using every possible avenue to ensure that no child walks a very long distance to and from school and that no child walks dangerous roads to access education.
"The fact that the Judgment is in our favour is a relief to all qualifying children who have been deprived of this benefit.
"It is quite embarrassing that every year we have to take our government to court," he said.
He thanked the LRC for their support.
Also read: Judgment reserved on EC scholar transport crisis
Transport Department spokesperson, Unathi Binqose said their legal team was studying the judgment.
Once done, a decision will be taken on the next informed plan of action.
Speaking to the public broadcaster on Thursday, Premier Oscar Mabuyane deemed the incident unfortunate, stating that they would have loved to transport every child.
According to Mabuyane the money to transport the 40,000 learners is simply not available.
"We need to look at the judgment comprehensively. We don't need a judge to tell us how to behave and conduct ourselves.
"The biggest problem that we have is money."
Mabuyane said they would study the judgment and come to a conclusion on how best to navigate the way forward.
