Last-minute queues for uniforms

Little Lebogang Mojela was tired and hungry. “But I’m happy to go to real school,” she quickly added.

Due to start Grade 1 on Wednesday, she and her brother, Thabang, were queuing outside a city clothing store with their mother, Minah, to buy school uniforms.

Thabang, who will be going to Grade 5, said he was not tired.

The family had been standing in a queue outside Mary’s Fashions in Vermeulen Street for 15 minutes, but ahead of them snaked a long queue from the shop’s entrance, around the corner and into a parking area at the back.

“We’ve been in Limpopo on holiday,” said the mother, explaining her last-minute shopping.

Security guards stopped customers at the door, only allowing a certain number into the shop.

Shop manager Muaaz Docrat said it was a form of crowd control to prevent stampedes.

“We have been open since 8am and, realising how many people left their school shopping to the last minute, we have extended our hours until 7pm,” he said.

Docrat said they still had plentiful stock, although the shop might be running short on some sizes after the busy day.

Outside a security guard walked up and down with a megaphone, asking shoppers to form one line and not give money to anybody.

“Pay inside, be careful with your money,” he urged the customers.

Youngsters sat on their haunches or leant against their mothers, clearly not finding the shopping expedition amusing.

Refilwe Ramutlwa had been in the queue for an hour, saying she left her child, who will start Grade 1, at home.

“She cannot stand this long. I’m just hoping they still have stock once I get inside. I could only get today and tomorrow off, so today I must buy a uniform and tomorrow I will be seeing my baby off,” she said.

Mokgethoa Mangoane waited for three hours before she could find the uniforms and school bags she had to buy for her two children and her sister’s daughter.

Mangoane had to take an early morning bus to come to town from KwaMhlanga, in Mpumalanga.

“This is the only shop I could find that sells the uniforms with the school’s badge on. I only managed to register the children at school on Monday, so I did not know before what uniforms to get,” she explained.

In Church Street, the queue of mothers waiting to enter Capital Fashion was shorter by late afternoon.

Security guards kept the door half closed to ensure no one sneaked in before there was enough room inside.

Ingrid Sifudi and her sister-in-law made the day a women’s outing, but the shop was out of the uniforms they needed.

“It is not a crisis. Our children are both in Grade 3, so they have uniforms; we just wanted to buy extras,” they said, before marching off to the next shop. - Pretoria News