Free rides for Cape Town learners rewriting matric exams
Free transport will be available to help Cape Town learners reach matric rewrite centres as thousands prepare for supplementary exams following the release of 2025 results.
Image: File
Cape Town learners who are preparing to rewrite matric exams will be able to access free transport to exam centres as part of a national initiative launched alongside the release of the 2025 matric results.
Ride-hailing company Bolt South Africa announced it will sponsor transport for learners attending matric rewrites and academic support programmes, with Cape Town identified as one of the priority focus areas.
The initiative, titled Bolt Your Matric Comeback, will fund 1 000 one-way rides countrywide at a total cost of R120 000. The programme is aimed at addressing transport barriers faced by learners who must travel long distances to rewrite centres or support venues.
South Africa recorded an 88% matric pass rate in 2025, but thousands of candidates — including many in the Western Cape — are expected to sit supplementary or rewrite exams in the coming months.
South Africa’s education system allows candidates to rewrite subjects, upgrade results or pursue alternative certification pathways through public adult learning centres, TVET colleges, accredited private institutions and the Department of Basic Education’s Second Chance Matric Programme. Early preparation, officials say, plays a key role in keeping tertiary study, training and employment options open.
Learners will be able to access the sponsored rides through a voucher code to be released on Bolt South Africa’s official social media platforms closer to the rewrite period. The vouchers will be geo-locked and destination-locked, allowing travel only to registered schools, rewrite centres and approved academic support venues.
Bolt senior operations manager Simo Kalajdzic said the initiative was intended to ensure transport costs do not prevent learners from taking up second-chance opportunities.
“Access should never be the reason a learner gives up,” he said.
Alongside Cape Town, the programme will also operate in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, provinces identified as having high numbers of rewrite candidates and ongoing transport challenges.
Education stakeholders have consistently warned that logistical barriers, including transport, can determine whether learners are able to sit rewrite exams, making access-focused interventions particularly significant as the next exam cycle approaches.
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Cape Argus