Seven children living on farms outside Kareedouw have been unable to attend school since April, after the Eastern Cape government failed to provide the scholar transport they were entitled to receive.
The case has now moved to the Makhanda High Court, where the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), together with six parents and caregivers, is seeking an order compelling the provincial government to arrange transport for the affected learners.
The application also concerns a much wider group. According to court papers, more than 40,000 learners who qualify for scholar transport are not receiving the service. The SAHRC wants the court to declare the failure to transport eligible learners unconstitutional.
A 24km journey became impossible
The court papers describe the experience of a 16-year-old girl living on a dairy farm near Kareedouw. After her mother applied for transport when she enrolled the girl at Qhayiyalethu FET School, no government vehicle was provided.
For about two weeks in April, the learner tried to reach school by relying on lifts. She travelled roughly 24km each way, with a foreman from a nearby farm sometimes driving her for part of the route. She then had to find another lift for the remainder of the journey, occasionally paying R20 to a driver.
The return trip was equally difficult. If she missed the foreman’s lift at about 3.30pm, she had to walk approximately 14km to get home, arriving at around 9pm. That arrangement ended on 22 April, when the foreman stopped travelling along that route.
Since then, the girl has had no practical way to reach school, according to the application. She is one of seven farm children in the Kareedouw area who have reportedly remained at home because the transport service was not supplied.
Transport is the only viable route for many families
For children living on farms and in isolated rural areas, distance can turn school attendance into a daily logistical and financial challenge. The court papers say many families have no alternative transport available, while private travel is beyond their means.
“For many learners in the Eastern Cape province, state-provided scholar transport is the only safe and reliable way to get to and from school each day,” human rights commissioner Tshepo Madlingozi said in the founding affidavit.
Madlingozi said long walks were difficult or impossible for many learners. Where families depend on state-funded transport, the loss of that service removes the basic route to school rather than merely making the journey less convenient.
- Seven farm children outside Kareedouw are identified in the application.
- More than 40,000 qualifying learners are said not to be receiving scholar transport.
- The application is directed at the provincial education, transport and finance departments.
Rights and missed learning
The SAHRC argues that the consequences extend beyond missed trips. Learners who remain at home lose classroom time and fall further behind, while the burden is placed on families that may have no realistic way to solve the problem themselves.
In his affidavit, Madlingozi said the rights of affected learners had already suffered serious harm and that the damage was increasing as their absence from school continued. The description places the dispute within the broader constitutional duty to ensure meaningful access to education, particularly for children whose circumstances make ordinary transport unavailable.
The issue is also one of coordination within the provincial administration. The urgent application names the education, transport and finance departments, indicating that the dispute involves more than the operation of individual routes. It raises questions about planning, funding and the implementation of a service intended for learners who meet the qualifying requirements.
Court asked to intervene
The commission and the six parents or caregivers filed the urgent application earlier this month. They want the court to order transport for the seven children and other qualifying learners, as well as to make a constitutional finding on the provincial government’s failure to provide the service.
The available court information does not indicate that a final ruling has been issued. Until the application is determined, the seven children remain at the centre of a dispute that affects thousands of learners across the province.
The Kareedouw case illustrates how a breakdown in a public service can quickly become an education crisis. For the affected families, the issue is not simply whether a vehicle arrives at a designated stop. It determines whether children living far from town can attend school at all, return home safely and keep pace with their classmates.
