Itumeleng Mafisa

Chaos reigned at the University of Johannesburg in Auckland Park as students battled through the gates of the Kingsway campus to find placement at the varsity.

Thousands of prospective students stood outside patiently waiting their turn to enter the campus, when it opened its doors at 7am.

Some students had slept under blankets on the grass the night before, just to make sure that they had a good place in the queue that eventually snaked all over the vast campus.

But it was not all sad faces and anger. Patience became a virtue for Tshepo Moloi, 18, and Siphesihle Mdlalose, 19, who quickly became friends and started to help each other with their efforts at getting registered.

Moloi filled in his form by using Mdlalose’s back as a hard surface to write on.

“I am not from a wealthy background, so education is very important to me and my family,” said Moloi.

One could see exhaustion on Moloi’s face as their time in the queue dragged on to 12 hours, but the two kept cool and just took the situation with a pinch of salt.

“We should have been long gone but because of the stampede and the disorganisation, we were pushed further back in the queue. Many people lost their cellphones and some got hurt just to get to the front of the queue.”

Mdlalose is from a well-off family in Boksburg and she wants to study psychology. Moloi is from a poor village in Mpumalanga. He wants to do a diploma in electrical engineering.

Hope finally came for the two as they reached the administration tent.

Many of the students looked nervous as they fiddled through their bags for the correct documents, such as their IDs and matric certificates.

Moloi was reapplying and Sipheshle was making her first application.

They were then sent to another tent where they handed in their application forms.

While in the queue, Moloi discovered that his form was not filled in properly at the same time as his phone rang. It was his grandmother from Mpumalanga. She wanted to know how things were going.

Mdlalose answers the phone and holds the phone to Moloi’s ear while Moloi is filling in his form. By now grandmother knows who Mdlalose is, since she has been answering Moloi’s phone while Moloi is busy attending to other matters. Moloi is orphaned, while Mdlalose was brought up by a nurse and an entrepreneneur.

Finally the two get to the room where they hand in their forms. They both walk out with relief and hope for the best.

“If I don’t make it, I’m not sure what I will do; this is my only chance out of poverty”

Thousands more students are expected back at this campus and others today, as the academic year approaches.

itumelengm@thenewage.co.za