Specifically, the Commission found, amongst others, that:
•    Thousands of qualifying learners have been deprived of scholar transport, forcing them to walk long distances to school, arrive late for classes, or drop out of school altogether.
•    Certain categories of needy learners are excluded from the scholar transport system.
•    The majority of scholar transport services are characterised by vehicle overloading, the use of unroadworthy and unsafe vehicles, frequent breakdowns, and late collection and delivery of learners.
•    Learners are often subjected to multiple trips, resulting in long travel times, fatigue, and interrupted learning.
•    There is a lack of supervision of learners during transport, which exposes them to bullying, safety risks, and harm.
•    Scholar transport is generally not provided for extra classes, lessons, and extracurricular activities, disadvantaging learners who rely on the programme.
•    Transport drivers are not consistently vetted, increasing risks to learners’ safety and well-being.
•    Learners with disabilities are not reasonably accommodated, resulting in exclusion and/or unsafe transport conditions.
•    These failures violate learners’ constitutional rights, including the right to basic education, equality, dignity, and safety, and constitute unfair discrimination on the grounds of poverty and disability.
•    funds, including payments exceeding R1 billion to service providers for services not rendered.
•    Despite reported remedial measures, key challenges persist, particularly overloading, unroadworthy vehicles, and the non-accommodation of learners with disabilities.
•    The violations stem from systemic failures, including insufficient and poorly managed budgets, weak oversight and contract enforcement, corruption, inadequate planning and coordination, policy gaps, role confusion, and a persistent disregard for legal obligations. 
•    These failures have had severe consequences for learners, including long and unsafe walks to school, drop-outs, exposure to criminality and other harms, interrupted teaching and learning, exhaustion and physical and mental illness, loss of educational opportunities, and the exclusion of learners with disabilities. 
•    The impact goes beyond subsidised transport, with issues such as overcrowding also affecting learners using private transport, underscoring the urgent need for stronger regulation, monitoring, and accountability across the entire scholar transport system.
•    These failures and rights violations are directly attributable to the North West Department of Education (NW DOE) and the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management (COSATMA), as custodians of the scholar transport programme.
•    The North West Provincial Treasury (NW PT) has been complicit in some of these failures by failing to take stricter measures to prevent the misuse of public funds.

DIRECTIVES
In response to these findings, the Commission issued the following directives, amongst others:
•    Within 60 days, COSATMA and the NW DOE must submit a comprehensive progress report on measures taken since 25 November 2025, being the date the Commission received the last status report from COSATMA and the NW DOE,  to address scholar transport challenges, including:
o    The number of previously excluded learners who are now provided with transport;
o    Additional learners identified and included in the programme;
o    Learners who remain without scholar transport, if any;
o    Roadworthiness testing conducted on service providers’ vehicles;
o    Outstanding vehicles and drivers still requiring testing and vetting;
o    Service providers found to be in breach of contractual obligations and the action taken;
o    Consequence management measures taken against officials and service providers;
o    Outstanding unpaid invoices and reasons for non-payment; and
o    Measures taken to reasonably accommodate learners with disabilities.
•    COSATMA and the NW DOE must develop a costed and time-bound remedial plan to address:
o    Fraudulent practices, including the use of untested vehicles;
o    Supervision of learners during transport, where practicable;
o    Monitoring of unsubsidised scholar transport; and
o    Residual and emerging scholar transport challenges.
•    Within 60 days, the North West Provincial Treasury must submit a report on further steps taken to support COSATMA and the NW DOE to address the identified scholar transport challenges, including the funding challenges.  Thereafter, the North West Provincial Treasury must provide ongoing support to the two departments to ensure the effective implementation of all remedial measures.
•    Within 90 days, COSATMA and the NW DOE must:
o    Establish a functional complaints call centre for parents, guardians, teachers, and the public, with provision for anonymity and whistleblower protection;
o    Ensure all scholar transport vehicles are clearly marked with call centre contact details;
o    Eradicate all outstanding payment backlogs;
o    Ensure all learners requiring scholar transport are accommodated; and
o    Develop an integrated, ongoing system to identify learners who require scholar transport.
•    Within 180 days, COSATMA and the NW DOE must review and amend the Provincial Learner Transport Policy, Guidelines and Protocols to close critical policy gaps, including providing for:
o    An inclusive eligibility criteria that accommodate learners in urban and peri-urban areas, learners travelling long distances due to limited curriculum offerings, and learners with disabilities, including appropriate exemptions. 
o    Clearer guidelines on learner identification;
o    Appeal and recourse mechanisms;
o    Monitoring of service providers;
o    Vetting of drivers;
o    Stronger safety standards and emergency response protocols;
o    The role of School Governing Bodies;
o    The exclusion of unsafe modes of transport;
o    Strengthened dispute resolution mechanisms; and
o    Regulation of private scholar transport to ensure learner safety, accountability, and equitable access to education.
•    COSATMA and the NW DOE must maintain ongoing engagement with municipalities and the Department of Public Works and Roads to address road conditions affecting student transport.
•    All parties must submit bi-annual progress reports to the Commission on the implementation of these directives until otherwise advised.

In addition to the directives, the Commission recommends that the National Department of Transport and the National Department of Basic Education, during the ongoing review of the National Learner Transport Policy, address the policy gaps identified in the report to strengthen coordination, accountability, and rights-based scholar transport provision nationally.

The Commission will continue to monitor compliance with these directives and will take further action should responsible parties fail to give effect to the remedial measures required to protect learners’ rights.

Click here to access the report

For further information or inquiries, please contact Shirley Mlombo at 083 575 1893 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..