By Buziwe Nocuze
• A Khayelitsha mother reduced school transport costs from R1950 to R1300, saving R650 each month to boost her grocery budget.
• Scholar transport drivers say rising fuel, tyres and maintenance costs are making it harder to run their services despite growing demand.
Nomboniso Mkhizwana from Khayelitsha in Cape Town has found a way to cut her monthly costs.
She used to spend about R1950 sending her child to school by taxi. But after doing some research, she decided to switch to scholar transport.
“I realised that the money I am paying was too much I did a research on how much the scholar transport are charging and I found out that they charge less then I found one for my child,” said Mkhizwana.
She now pays R1300 a month for scholar transport from Khayelitsha to Cape Town.
The change has helped her save R650 every month.
“I am now saving R650 a month, while my child was using a taxi I had to buy groceries for R2000 and they were not lasting us for a month, but ever since these changes I took that R650 and add it to the grocery money,” said Mkhizwana.
She also feels more at ease about her child’s safety.
“I am paying less and my child is being picked and dropped at the gate which is safe and reliable, with kids go missing everyday atlease when they are picked at door we believe they are safe. If the driver is late or had a problem on her way to pic my child she gives me a call to explain so that I don’t panick,” said Mkhizwana.
But drivers say the business is not easy.
Andiswa Mkhuzangwe, a scholar transport driver, said fuel prices have pushed her costs up sharply.
“The petrol price that keeps increasing is making things difficult for me, before it goes up I was paying R6,000 a month but now I am paying more and when the Toyota quantam tyre breaks I need to buy a new one with more than R1,500,” said Mkhuzangwe.
She also pays for maintenance, insurance and permits.
“When the fuel goes up we cannot go up because parents are complaining about priced being high forgetting that we have alot of things to pay, including buying groceries, paying for insurance policy,” said Mkhuzangwe.
She said her prices depend on where children live, but start from R500.
Makhosandile Tumana, spokesperson for the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association, said taxis and scholar transport operate differently.
“We don’t know how they work except that parents pay monthly, on our sides learners pay everyday when they are using a taxi and as we have long queue at the taxi rank in the morning we don’t allow learners to queue because we know that they are going to be late at school,” said Tumana.
He said taxis do not offer discounts for learners.
Pictured above: Parents choose scholar transport over taxis to save money.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
