With the provincial budget now due to be retabled following changes to the national fiscal framework, the Democratic Alliance urges Finance MEC, Mlungisi Mvoko, to use this opportunity to correct the failings of the original budget and give effect to key resolutions adopted by the Eastern Cape Legislature.
When the first budget was tabled, The DA voted against the budget, specifically rejecting the Department of Transport’s budget due to the scholar transport allocation being woefully underfunded, despite a clear and growing crisis. Thousands of deserving learners continue to be excluded, facing unsafe and often life-threatening journeys to school.
Last week, the Eastern Cape Legislature passed a motion brought by DA Shadow MEC for Education, Horatio Hendricks, calling for urgent action. The resolution followed the Makhanda High Court’s December 2024 ruling, which affirmed that scholar transport is a constitutional obligation and a critical component of the right to education.
It also noted the Department’s own admission that over R500 million of the 2024/25 financial year’s R815 million budget had already been spent by mid-year, to transport just 103,000 learners. At least 40,000 learners who qualify for transport, were excluded from the programme and did not even form part of the budget.
Despite this, the proposed allocation for the 2025/26 financial year has been reduced to just R795 million. This regression not only contradicts the spirit of the High Court judgment but undermines the Legislature’s adopted resolution, which called for increased funding and urgent engagement with National Treasury.
The DA is therefore urging MEC Mvoko to honour the Legislature’s directive by significantly increasing the scholar transport budget in the revised appropriation. This is a constitutional and moral obligation, not just a matter of administrative planning. Every day that underfunding persists, vulnerable learners remain at risk, and educational inequality is entrenched.
The DA will study the revised budget closely to ensure that it reflects the priorities of the people of this province, not the political calculations of a governing party in decline. The MEC must seize this opportunity to show leadership and deliver a budget that protects learners, honours legal obligations, and restores public confidence in the province’s ability to govern effectively.
The people of the Eastern Cape deserve a government that listens, responds, and delivers. The time for delays and excuses has passed. The time for action is now.