The Commission has also noted with concern that 9 children were injured after the driver of their scholar transport vehicle lost control and crashed into a tree near Sarnia Primary School in Pinetown, west of Durban.

These tragedies underscore the systemic failures in the provision of scholar transport. Reliable and safe access to scholar transportation is indispensable to the realization of the right to basic education. Following persistent complaints, the Commission has conducted hearings and released reports in recent years across various provinces regarding challenges with scholar transport. These accidents happened on the same day, 19 January 2026, as the Commission released its Final Inquiry Report on Scholar Transport in the North West Province. The report highlighted pervasive safety risks and governance weaknesses that compromise learners’ rights to education, dignity, equality, and safety. The report found that:

• Unroadworthy and unsafe vehicles are routinely used, with mechanical defects, expired discs, fuel leaks, and inadequate safety features.
• Chronic overcrowding and multiple-trip operations expose learners to exhaustion, late arrivals, and missed lessons.
• Learners with disabilities are excluded due to inaccessible vehicles.
• Weak enforcement and monitoring capacity allow non-compliant operators to continue operating.

The report outlines directives with clear timelines for remedial measures that state authorities must undertake. On 17 December 2024, in litigation where the SAHRC Eastern Cape Provincial Office was admitted as amicus curiae, the High Court in Makhanda declared the Eastern Cape Department of Education and Department of Transport’s failure to provide scholar transport to qualifying learners unconstitutional and ordered that transport be provided to approximately 40,000 learners for the 2025 school year. In part, the court relied on a 2014 SAHRC investigative inquiry report on the structural dysfunction and systemic failures in the provision of scholar transport in the Eastern Cape. The Court set strict deadlines for deciding applications, providing transport, giving individualized reasons for refusals, finalizing appeals, and requiring catch-up support for learners who missed schooling in 2024.
The Vanderbijlpark and Pinetown accidents tragically illustrate the consequences of these systemic failures. It is a stark reminder that scholar transport, when unsafe and unreliable, not only undermines the constitutional right to basic education but also endangers learners’ lives.
The Commission reiterates its directives issued in the Inquiry Report, including that:

• The Department of Education and the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management must urgently strengthen vehicle safety inspections, enforce compliance, and ensure continuous monitoring of operators.
• Policies must be reviewed to include children with disability , driver vetting, emergency protocols, and the regulation of private transport providers. Most importantly the two departments to have an understanding of the National policies and their defined roles.

The SAHRC calls for decisive, coordinated, and time-bound reform to ensure that every learner, especially those from impoverished communities, can access safe, reliable, and dignified scholar transport. This will be an enabler for the right to education to be realized. The Commission will engage with the National Departments of Education and Transport, and other relevant stakeholders to discuss ways to prevent further tragedies.

END

For further information or media inquiries, please contact: Zamantungwa Mbeki, Gauteng Provincial Manager, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..