Transport and development in the Eastern Cape : a children's perspective

Abstract

Paper presented at the 28th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 6 - 9 July 2009 "Sustainable Transport", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The aim of this paper is to explore and document, through the use of qualitative data, children and young people's experiences and perceptions of mobility and transport constraints in accessing social services such as health, education and participation in day to day activities in remote rural, rural, peri-urban and urban settings using three study settlements of the OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa: Bolani, Mthambalala, Mthumbane in Port St Johns and Ngangelizwe in Mthatha. This paper forms part of a broader study investigating the transport and mobility constraints of children in Sub-Saharan Africa involving three countries:Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. Recent studies have noted that mobility and transport constraints and the lack of adequate and reliable information can have considerable adverse impact on children's access to regular essential services such as education with further knock-on impacts on subsequent livelihood opportunities. Furthermore, it is acknowledged that improving mobility and access to socio-economic oppottunities for children is crucial if the Millennium Development Goals of Universal Primary Education, Promotion of Gender Equity and Empowerment of Women, and Reduction of Child Mortality are to be achieved.