Randburg - Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy today visited the Randburg Testing Station to observe the inspection of scholar transport as the vehicles were being tested for roadworthiness.
More than 700 buses -- transporting 50 000 learners daily and operated by 117 service providers -- are part of the operation, which started on 25 June 2012. It is expected end on 13 July 2012.
The operation was first run last year over the school holidays in a bid to ensure that bus owners regularly maintain transport used for learners.
Of the 485 buses that have been inspected since the inspection campaign kicked off this year, 285 have passed, whilst 203 failed. Nine buses have to be re-tested.
Creecy said when a bus was found with defects, a list of all the things that need to be fixed is sent to the owner. After the bus is fixed, it is brought back after seven days for further inspection.
"If the owner fails to comply, that bus will be taken off the road and the owner [must get] another bus or we cancel the contract. The operation helps the department in identifying the problems," said Creecy, adding that the onus was on bus operators to maintain safety standards.
She said since the operation started, no major accidents involving scholar transport have been reported.
Head of the Randburg Testing Station, Charles van Heever, said the most common defects found in buses were defective brakes, steering wheel mechanism, loose wires and nuts.
Spokesperson for Gauteng Traffic, Busaphi Nxumalo, warned that after failing the test done at a provincial testing station, a bus could not be taken to a private testing station for a re-test. It had to be tested at the provincial station.
"... We are not going to allow transport [that] fails here ... to be on the road with a disc put on after being passed by a private testing station without being re-tested by us... If it fails the test again, we will take it off the road," warned Nxumalo.
The province spends R165 million annually on its Scholar Transport Programme.
