JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi on Monday appealed for composure as the department continued with the pupil placement process.
He said 85% of the pupils have been placed and only 15% of pupils still needed to be placed.
“Of the 34 000 pupils that have not been placed, 13 000 are in Grade one, 21 000 are in Grade eight. Of the 34 000 of those who did not receive an SMS, we have released 6 000 and are waiting for them to accept,” he said.
“Parents should be rest assured that the department is obliged to place all pupils, and as such, all pupils will be placed.”
Lesufi said officials at district offices were intimidated and attacked on Sunday, while they were helping "livid" parents.
Chaos erupted on Sunday when parents of children who had not been placed were notified by SMS to go to the closest district offices.
Lesufi said that the button that sent the SMS for parents to go to their respective district offices was pressed prematurely.
“I want to apologise to parents about what transpired yesterday where an SMS that was not supposed to go out, went out,” said Lesufi.
The admission placement period has been extended to November 30.