By Marcus Moloko
The City of Johannesburg has launched a massive scholar transport operation against unsafe scholar transport vehicles following the devastating Vanderbijlpark accident on Monday that claimed 14 lives by Thursday.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) has begun impounding non-compliant vehicles across the city, according to the Public Safety MMC Dr Mgcini Tshwaku’s online social media account.
Tshwaku confirmed the citywide operation targeted unsafe and non-compliant scholar transport vehicles.
“JMPD officers are actively patrolling key routes, removing vehicles that endanger learners, and ensuring children are placed in safe, approved transport,” he wrote.
“There is zero tolerance where children’s lives are at risk. Compliance is mandatory,” Tshwaku said.
The operation comes as part of a broader push to restore confidence in the scholar transport system, which has been shaken by the Vanderbijlpark tragedy.
The driver in the deadly crash, 22-year-old scholar transport driver Ayanda Dludla, appeared in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Thursday morning.
He was arrested shortly after being discharged from hospital, in a case that has become a focal point in Gauteng’s crackdown on unsafe school transport.
On Wednesday, speaking on the sidelines of an education lekgotla, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the Vanderbijlpark crash was a “hearbreaking” tragedy.
He called for an overhaul of the country’s scholar transport system.
“We cannot allow our children’s lives to be placed in danger by reckless operators. This tragedy must be a turning point,” Ramaphosa said.
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