In May 2012, parents queued outside sought-after public schools around Johannesburg to submit applications for the following year. At Parkview Junior School, some of roughly 100 parents waiting on Tuesday morning had taken shifts for four days to hold places. They warmed themselves beside makeshift braziers at night, although the registration transaction itself took only minutes.
At Rand Park High School, the queue began shortly after midnight. When the gates opened at 6:30 a.m., parents filled 200 chairs in the hall and another 60 remained outside. By lunchtime the school had processed more than 500 applications for 300 Grade 8 places. One parent who arrived at 5 a.m. submitted her form only after 11.
A place in line did not guarantee admission. Under Gauteng policy, children living or whose parents worked within five kilometres entered waiting list A; applicants outside the feeder area entered list B. Parents were therefore queuing first for the opportunity to be considered under another ordering system. Four days of place-holding preceded a form that took minutes to file.