A taxi comes barrelling down Ntshekisa Road in New Brighton and jumps a red traffic light, narrowly missing a group of children trying to cross the road.
“This is the reason I had to make sure I cross with them every morning,” a father says.
This has become the norm for Pendla Primary School pupils and parents who have to run the gauntlet to get to school.
A concerned parent who reached out to Weekend Post said daily they had accompany their children to school as traffic calming measures outside the school are blatantly ignored .
They say every morning it’s the same, taxis driving recklessly, speeding, overtaking and not stopping at the traffic light for schoolchildren to cross safely,
A Weekend Post team visited the school on Wednesday morning to witness the parents’ concerns first-hand.
The team arrived before 7am, and watched as parents and pupils waited for a gap, clutched hands and ran through the street trying to avoiding speeding vehicles.
Panic could be seen and screams heard, some calling to the others “cross guys”, with many fearful children having to run back again after starting to cross and forced to wait for traffic to calm.
The reporter joined the children, and 62-year-old father Mabhele-Andile Ngcobo, who said every morning he had to make sure that he accompanied his children to cross the road.
While crossing the road, a Toyota Azanza jumped the red robot and sped in front of them.
“This is the reason I had to make sure, imagine this happens while they crossing alone here,” he said.
Another parent, Andisiwe Mtimkulu,37, said it was a worse in the morning as everyone was rushing to work and school.
She said some of the pupils were still young and hac no clue how the robots worked.
“The presence of the traffic police and speed humps would save souls,” she said.
The residents and parents said many pupils had been injured crossing the road.
Mandiso Zinto, 39, living across the street said every morning he watched over the children, and helped them cross if he noticed they were struggling.
“This is one of the busiest roads with lots of cars. These children are faced with possible danger every day,” he said.
Nomfundiso Mpofu, 42, mother of grade 1 pupil, said:
“We wish something can be done about this, or maybe the school considering to change the school gate and be on the other side of the yard.”
She said in 2022 she had seen the traffic police present on only two occasions.
The team visited the school to inquire about the matter and while confirming it was a concern teachers declined to further comment on the issue.
Ward 17 councillor Ludwe Mnyadu said he had asked Bay road and transport political head Bongani Mani to speed up the process of installing a speed bump.
Municipal spokesperson Kupido Baron said the provincial department of transport would be best placed regarding their scholar patrol programme in the Bay.
He said the metro was interacting with the department regarding the concerns.
Eastern Cape transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said they are still waiting a request from the school to provide scholar patrol services.
“The speed bumps are more challenging. We will need to do extensive consultation before we install,” he said.
He did however say they would look into increasing visibility of traffic officials in the area.
Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima failed to respond to questions sent to him on Thursday and follow-up attempts on Friday.
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