Gauteng’s school-bus transport saga is over, the provincial education department said on Friday.
Education provincial minister Angie Motshekga said that misunderstandings about the payment of bus operators had been handled at an urgent meeting in the morning.
The South African Bus Operators’ Association (Saboa) — which reportedly met its members on Friday afternoon — could not be reached for comment.
Operators had said that the Gauteng education department owed them R14-million.
Motshekga rejected the allegation, saying that operators clearly ”derived pleasure” from disrupting schooling.
”Even though the operators have accepted the minister’s intervention, they have indicated that they still have to report to their members for the final acceptance of the outcome of the meeting,” read a statement from Motshekga.
A halt to bus operations would have affected 60 000 pupils throughout Gauteng, from Vereeniging and Sedibeng up to Pretoria and Bronkhorstspruit, the East Rand and West Rand, including Katlehong and Diepsloot, Saboa manager Eric Cornelius said earlier.
The department has since made alternative arrangements in case their decision affects the transporting of pupils when school starts again on Monday.
”I am glad that the impasse is now over,” said Motshekga.
”We should have not allowed this situation to prevail in the first place. I am therefore awaiting a full report on those who led us to this crisis. We cannot tolerate this anymore,” she said. — Sapa