- Khayelitsha scholar transport driver Limise Siko says her monthly petrol bill has climbed from about R4,000 to R6,000 while she still charges R700 per learner.
- Some parents say even R700 is already too much and they will switch their children to buses or trains if fares rise.
Scholar transport drivers in Cape Town say rising petrol costs are eating into their income, but parents are refusing to pay higher fares.
Limise Siko, who transports learners from Khayelitsha to Mitchells Plain, has charged R700 per learner since 2023.
She said she tried to increase the fare after repeated petrol price increases, but parents refused.
“I have been transporting learners from Khayelitsha to Mitchells Plain and charging R700 per learner since 2023. With petrol prices going up now and then, I tried increasing the fare, but parents refused to pay more,” Siko said.
She said her fuel costs have jumped dramatically.
“Before the petrol hike, I was spending R4,000 a month on petrol, but now I am paying R6,000. I am no longer making a profit,” she said.
Siko now plans to look for new learners in January whose parents are willing to pay more than R700.
She said parents told her they are already struggling with debt, food prices and salaries that have not kept up with the cost of living.
“They said I am making the petrol hike their problem, while they still have the problem of salaries that have not increased while everything, including food, has increased,” Siko said.
She said what frustrates her is that commuters usually accept increases announced by taxi associations.
“When taxis increase fares, they don’t complain. They pay what the taxi association is asking. What they are doing is not fair,” she said.
Siko said scholar transport operators are also parents with bills to pay.
“We are also parents with needs, and I cannot continue like this anymore. That’s why I want to look for new learners next year,” she said.
Another scholar transport driver, Andiswa Mantla, who carries learners from Philippi to Mitchells Plain, increased her monthly fare from R700 to R750.
The move cost her customers.
“I increased it by R50. Surprisingly, the parents didn’t complain when I told them. Instead, they took their kids somewhere else,” Mantla said.
She said she lost several learners and plans to look for replacements next year.
Mantla believes parents may eventually have little choice but to pay more if other scholar transport operators also increase their fares.
But parents say their household budgets are already stretched too far.
Nwabisa Mgoduka said R700 a month for scholar transport is already difficult to afford.
“We are not earning much already, and I have already cut a lot of things from my grocery list,” she said.
“If I pay more than R700 for scholar transport, it means I am working for transport.”
Mgoduka said she will put her daughter on a bus if the fare increases.
“The transport is safe and makes things easy, especially when it is raining because they are picked up at the door. But she will have to learn how to use a bus because the money I am paying already is too much,” she said.
Lizeka Jikija, 40, said she would also have to find a cheaper option if scholar transport fares rise.
“If they increase the fare, I will not have a choice but to take him by train,” she said.
“He will get used to it because R750 or R800 will be too much for me. I depend on piece jobs and their grant money.”
For scholar transport drivers, higher fuel costs are making the current fares harder to sustain.
For parents, paying more could mean cutting back somewhere else.
