While the world celebrates Nelson Mandela International Day, the 18 of July 2012 also marks the first anniversary since the migration of the Scholar Transport Programme (STP) from the Department of Education to the Department of Transport.
As the Eastern Cape Department of Transport we can be counted amongst the people that have been able to emulate Madiba by promoting access to education for rural youth.
Although the STP was not without some challenges during the past 12 months, significant strides have been made in providing a more reliable and improved quality service.
The Eastern Cape Executive Council made the decision to move the STP to the Department of Transport as public transport, which would include scholar transport, is the core business of the said department; as it was put at the time of the decision: “Let the educators educate and the transporters transport!”
Under the Department of Education, the programme was beset by a number of problems and allegations of fraud and corruption surfaced regularly. The programme was largely operator driven and in numerous cases operators told the Department of Education how many scholars they have transported and over what distances. This lack of planning and control created an environment that was not conducive to a good quality, reliable service with resultant problems when it came to payment of operators. Some unscrupulous transport operators submitted false claims which were not easily verifiable, which in turn made it very difficult for the Department of Education to actually pay even legitimate scholar transport claims. It was clear that something needed to be done to improve the situation drastically.
Due to the chronic shortage of funds, it was clear that first of all proper controls had to be put in place and that legitimate transport operators had to be appointed to service the scholars that were approved for participation in the programme. This meant that schools and scholars had to be prioritised for benefiting from the programme. As the custodians of the scholars, this task fell to the Department of Education to identify the schools and scholars. It was decided to first concentrate on farm schools and remote rural schools. These were also limited by the available budget, as there was not a proper budget baseline for the programme. The schools, number of scholars, routes and pick-up point were identified by the Department of Education and the Department of Transport had to arrange the transport accordingly.
Previously, transporters, irrespective of their legitimacy and/or experience, were allowed to participate in the programme. This is one of the first challenges that was tackled by the Department of Transport who insisted that only legitimate transport operators that were holders of operating licenses, valid certificates of fitness for their vehicles, drivers’ professional driving permits and with passenger liability insurance would be allowed to form part of the solution.
The department entered into negotiations with the Eastern Cape Bus & Taxi Business Chamber (the Chamber), an association between the Eastern Cape Taxi Council, who represents all 94 taxi associations in the province with about 24 000 members, and the Eastern Cape Peri-Urban Bus Operators Association, who represented more than 300 small bus operators in the province. The Chamber was not a legal entity at the time and it had to register a legal entity that would be able to enter into a contract with the department. This entity was duly registered as One Future Development 46 (OFD46), a company incorporated not for gain. A negotiated contract was entered into between the Department of Transport and OFD46 for a period covering the remainder of the 2011 and the full 2012 academic years.
A small group of bus operators challenged the department’s decision in court, but it was proved that a number of them did not have legally registered vehicles, operating licenses and other required documents. Due to the urgency to get the STP up and running, the court dismissed the application with costs and the department was allowed to continue with the contract. This is the first time that bus and taxi operators have worked together and for the first time they became, collectively, public transport operators who are not identified by mode. The Chamber’s affiliates, both bus and taxi operators, literally sat together at local level to share out the routes among them. These operators were then registered on OFD46’s database against the pick-up points and schools that they would service.
The department instituted a Proof of Delivery (POD) form to verify that services have been rendered. This is a pre-printed, pre-numbered form in triplicate that is exclusive for every school for a week. On a Monday morning, the transport operator drops the POD for that week off at the school and the principal, or one of the teachers, mark on the POD whether the operator rendered the service or not. On a Friday afternoon, the principal signs the POD and places the school stamp on it. One copy is kept at the school and the transport operator would then submit the other two copies to OFD46, who checks it, signs and stamps it and keeps one copy. The original (top copy) is then sent to East London to be captured against each pick-up point and this is then used to generate an invoice to the department. The department processes the invoices and pays the correct amount over to OFD46 who in turn distributes the funds to each transport operator. The Department of Transport is proud to have been able to pay all invoices within the 30 days prescribed by both the contract with OFD46 and the Public Finance Management Act.
The experience that OFD46 gained in providing the scholar transport services during this period will stand them in good stead and also allow them to tender for future contracts if they so wish. This would not have been possible if the bus and taxi industries did not decide to take hands and work together in creating a viable public transport industry in the province.
Over the last year more than 50 000 scholars benefited from the STP as they were transported to some 640 schools from more than 3 000 pick-up points across the entire province. The Department of Education reported that the STP, as administered by the Department of Transport, has dramatically improved since 18 July 2011. For the first time there is actual control over who transports the scholars, in what vehicles and whether the service was actually rendered.
The Department of Transport and the Department of Education both acknowledge that the STP is not without its challenges, but these challenges are constantly receiving attention. Even during times of labour unrest within OFD46, more than 94% of the scholars have still been transported on a daily basis.
As the current contract terminates at the end of the 2012 academic year, the Department of Transport has advertised a tender for a service provider to design a scholar transport service, based on the current service, for the 2013 academic year and to also monitor the service for 12 months. This tender will be awarded by 20 July 2012.
The Department of Transport will continue to improve the Scholar Transport Programme to such an extent that it becomes the model for other provinces as well.
Should anyone have any questions they can please call the Scholar Transport System Helpline on 0800644644.
Media contact:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Cell: 082 56 26 023
