![\"Parents](\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114_090954-1024x760.jpg\")
Fruitless hours in the sun<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Khumisa Tunzi from Khayelitsha was among the number that were referred. She said the process was unfair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tunzi was trying to find a place for her Grade 5 daughter closer to home because the school she attends in Zonnebloem is too far away. The schools near her home are too full, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe leaves the house at five o’clock and then only gets home at six or seven o’clock at night,\u201d Tunzi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said she has been trying to get her daughter transferred since December last year but has had no feedback from the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ALSO READ: Historic 88% pass rate marks best-ever matric results for South Africa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chante Joubert of Rocklands was also among the number who were referred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She said she was trying to find a place for her brother and cousin in Grades 7 and 8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t know about the online application,\u201d Joubert said, explaining that she is the main caregiver for the boys because their parents are \u201croaming around\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Joubert said she first applied at the department in August for the boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve had no response since then,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group was among 7 200 in the Western Cape, according to the Good Party, who still needed placement when schools reopened this morning for the 2026 academic year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is 7 200 young people starting the year in limbo, anxious about their future, not because of a lack of effort or ability, but because the system has failed to provide enough space for them to continue their education,\u201d Brett Herron, GOOD\u2019s member of the Western Cape Parliament, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Western Cape government is quick to brand itself as the \u2018best-run\u2019 province in the country. But a government that leaves thousands of children without access to schooling at the start of the academic year cannot credibly claim success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis now raises the question: When will these children be placed in classrooms? How long will they have to delay their future for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When TygerBurger<\/em> posed these questions to the Western Cape Education Department, spokesperson Millicent Merton said that since November, the department had received more than 10 000 late applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs of 7 January this year, placement was still underway for 7 540 learners,\u201d Merton said, adding that updated figures would be made available soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said that since 1 November last year, the WCED received 10 666 late Grade R, 1 and 8 applications. Most of these were received in November and December but by 7 January, the department had received 758 new \u201cextremely late applications\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThousands still need space at schools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Late applications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n