Tembisa school boosts safety and attendance by providing free transport for pupils – Mmatsie Motimele
In South Africa, more than 8 million of our 12.5 million school pupils walk to school as their families cannot afford private transportation. The danger some of them face has been highlighted by a recent story of the pupils of a remote village of eNkovukeni in far northern KwaZulu-Natal who have to cross a lake with hippos to get to the Nhlange Secondary School in Manguzi. A non-profit organisation, The Love Trust, which runs the Nokuphila School in Tembisa, has devised a plan to provide safe and dependable transport to its pupils. They invite businesses to sponsor a seat through the Nokuphila Transport Programme. In an interview, Mmatsie Motimele, a fundraiser for The Love Trust, told BizNews that a key contributor to the school's high attendance record is their commitment to providing safe and dependable transport to their pupils. Seats can be sponsored on the GivenGain website. The annual cost per child is R8,941.
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Highlights from the interview
In an interview with Linda van Tilburg, Mmatsie Motimele from the Love Trust discusses the critical issue of student transportation in South Africa, where over 8 million of 12.5 million school pupils rely on walking to school due to financial constraints. The Love Trust, which operates the Nokuphila School in Tembisa, initiated a transport program to enhance safety and accessibility for students, particularly those from impoverished backgrounds.
Founded in 2009, the Love Trust has grown its transport capacity from a single minibus to four buses, currently serving 383 learners across preschool to high school. Motimele highlights the positive impacts of this program, including improved attendance rates—95% in the first term and 91% in the second—and a safer environment for children, especially girls who face significant risks while walking to school.
Despite these successes, the organization faces challenges in securing sponsorships for transport, as many corporate donors prefer funding for education and sports initiatives. Motimele emphasizes the importance of raising awareness about the need for safe transportation, citing extreme cases of students crossing dangerous areas to reach school.
The Love Trust also runs adult education programs and continually seeks funding to maintain its initiatives. Motimele invites individuals and businesses to support their "Sponsor a Seat, Secure an Education" campaign, reinforcing that reliable transport can significantly enhance educational outcomes for disadvantaged children.
Edited transcript of the interview
Linda van Tilburg (00:00.000)
In South Africa, more than 8 million of our 12.5 million school pupils walk to school as their families cannot afford private transportation. This inaccessibility impacts students' ability to attend full-time, with many taking more than 30 minutes to walk each way on a given day. This disparity puts many children at a disadvantage, and they fall behind. A non-profit organisation, the Love Trust, which runs the Nokuphila School in Tembisa, has come up with a plan to provide safe and dependable transport to their pupils. We have Mmatsie Motimele to tell us more about that. So, what is the inspiration for providing transport for your school?
So, what is the inspiration for providing transport for your school?
Mmatsie Motimele (01:04.012)
The Love Trust was founded in 2009, and Nokuphila School was founded in 2010 as a flagship project of the Love Trust. Since inception, because we've had three-year-olds coming to school starting from grade triple naught, we thought it was a good idea to make coming to school safe for them. So, we decided to have school transport, which started out as a minibus and has grown to four buses.
Linda van Tilburg (01:41.465)
How many pupils do you have at the school? What grades are they?
Mmatsie Motimele (01:49.662)
We started out with 45 preschool learners in grade 000, and now we've got 383 learners in preschool, primary school, and recently, a high school.
Linda van Tilburg (02:06.374)
What kind of curriculum do you follow?
Mmatsie Motimele (02:09.408)
We follow the CAPS curriculum.T hat's the standardised curriculum for government schools in South Africa.
Linda van Tilburg (02:23.611)
What has the impact been of providing transport for kids?
Mmatsie Motimele (02:29.739
Our children hail from the township of Tembisa, which is riddled with poverty and crime. The ability to provide transport has really impacted their lives. The children are not running off, bunking school; they are not experiencing bullying on their way to school. They don't have to travel long distances just to get to school, so they are safer.
Linda van Tilburg (03:06.875)
I'm thinking of girls who are not very safe in South Africa as they walk to school. What difference did it make to the lives of these girls?
Mmatsie Motimele (03:15.648)
We always have parents commenting on the statistics we see on the news about child abductions. The peace of mind that comes with having safe transport for their children is unmatched.
Linda van Tilburg (03:33.628)
Do you have testimonials or specific stories you can share from students or their families, like examples of what a difference it has made?
Mmatsie Motimele (03:42.988)
We've got a few. Since our children are about three years old when they start at Nokuphila School, it would be extremely difficult for parents who are either unemployed or earn below minimum wage to bring them to school and then go back home.
Linda van Tilburg (04:14.1060
You've got a programme where businesses can sponsor a child or this programme. How does that work?
Mmatsie Motimele (04:30.014)
The sponsorship is called the 'Sponsor a Seat, Secure an Education' programme, which allows both local and international businesses to go to our GivenGain site and search for Love Trust. We've got a campaign running there where we have stated our costs for the year to be able to transport children to and from school daily. They can get involved by contributing as little as R8,000, which is the price of a seat on the school bus.
Linda van Tilburg (05:04.412)
How many seats can be sponsored, and what is the amount you're aiming for if someone wants to sponsor a whole bus?
Mmatsie Motimele (05:13.898)
The total cost of transport is about R3 million. So, if someone is interested, they could sponsor anywhere from R8,000 to R3 million.
Linda van Tilburg (05:34.315)
What has been the response like from sponsors? Are people keen on getting involved?
Mmatsie Motimele (05:41.800)
We've got quite a few individuals who give R250 a month towards the transport programme. But with corporates, they tend to want to fund education or sports, not so much the transport.
Linda van Tilburg (06:02.112)
Do you find it's easier to get sponsorships for sports?
Mmatsie Motimele (06:07.476)
Yes, for sports or for stationery or STEM.
Linda van Tilburg (06:14.519)
Why do you think that is?
Mmatsie Motimele (06:17.612)
Maybe we haven't had the conversation around the importance of providing safe transport. There are so many children who struggle every single day. Just this week on the news, there was a story about pupils from KZN who walked in hippo-infested waters just to get to school. Perhaps we aren't having enough conversations about the importance of transport in education.
Linda van Tilburg (06:57.167)
Tell us more about the Love Trust. You've got the school, what else do you do?
Mmatsie Motimele (07:02.888)
In addition to the school, we have an adult education programme where we train ACD teachers, level four and level five teachers, at our Nokuphila School. We have a training centre there and have partnered with various training centres across South Africa.
Linda van Tilburg (07:27.992)
How did you get involved, and what is your role in this?
Mmatsie Motimele (07:32.286)
I'm a fundraiser at the Love Trust. My full-time job is just trying to raise funds and raise awareness about the work we do so that we can continue to make an impact.
Linda van Tilburg (07:47.330)
Often in overseas countries, you hear of the concept of donor fatigue. Is that present in South Africa? Do people say, "I've given already, what more do you want me to give?"
Mmatsie Motimele (07:56.492)
Donor fatigue is a very real problem that we face daily. Sometimes you get individuals who have given to other organisations, and they say, "My money's all gone to that other organisation," and corporates also feel the same.
Linda van Tilburg (08:21.551)
What would you like to tell corporates or individuals about why they should support this specific initiative?
Mmatsie Motimele (08:31.148)
We have found through our studies that attendance rates have gone up. Learner attendance rate in term one of this year was recorded at 95%, and term two at 91%. That is much higher than government schools. Because of this, our learners do very well academically because they're here every single day.
Linda van Tilburg (09:01.696) What do you hear from these pupils? For some of them, it's such a trek to get to school. What difference would it make if you could, like in the American system, drop every single kid off at school every day?
Mmatsie Motimele (09:17.716)
It would save a lot of our children from bullying on their way to school. It would save them from child abductions and crime. We see many cases of drugs in Tembisa, and they're able to avoid that on their way to school.
Linda van Tilburg (09:40.350)
Is there anything you would like to add about this and the work you generally do?
Mmatsie Motimele (09:47.340)
We're constantly looking for funders to continue what we do. We rely solely on funding. If anyone has a connection or funds, we're constantly looking. We are available on our website, where you can see what we do and what you might like to contribute to.
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