/ 12 April 2005

Gauteng school buses back on the road

Most Gauteng school buses were running again on Tuesday after a one-day strike left 66 000 children stranded on Monday.

Only the Diepsloot-Honeydew-Zandspruit area was still affected, with the bus operator there continuing to refuse to ferry children, said Gauteng education department spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi.

The department has set aside R40-million a year to transport 66 318 pupils to schools in Gauteng.

The department and the South African Bus Operators’ Association officials were engaged in discussions on Tuesday, said Lesufi, who was hopeful of a ”major breakthrough”.

South African Bus Operators’ Association manager Eric Cornelius could not be reached, as he was in that meeting.

However, on Monday he said there is much frustration among the bus operators.

”There is a whole host of issues that we must solve,” he said. — Sapa