By Nontokozo Gemani
- Myeni started helping in Tsakane in 2025 after a neighbour did not know she had to create an online profile.
- She has helped 13 parents in 2025 and 30 more in 2026, with former school friends who study at university.
Zanele Myeni uses her own laptop and Wi-Fi to help parents in Tsakane, Ekurhuleni, apply for school places online, for free.
The final-year UNISA student started in 2025, after a neighbour asked for help with a Grade 1 application. She did not know she had to create a profile first.
She posted on WhatsApp and Facebook, and word spread. Myeni helped 13 parents in 2025 and 30 more in 2026, working with former school friends who are also university students.
The need is real. Gauteng recorded 738,445 Grade 1 and Grade 8 applications by 21 August 2025. Of those, 97,719 were incomplete.
Some parents who come to her have internet but do not know how to scan and upload documents. Others have no internet at all.
These are not new. Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane admitted in May 2025 that the online system has faced technical problems and poor internet access in past years. The department runs 81 walk-in centres for parents needing help.
“My family told me to start charging them but I refused because it’s a simple process for me since I’m a student,” Zanele said.
She also did not want to take advantage of parents who could not afford data.
Portia Nkosi was one of the parents Myeni helped. Her Grade 8 child was placed at a school far from home, and Myeni helped her write and submit an appeal. Twenty-one days later, the child was moved to the school Nkosi wanted.
Myeni said the biggest problem for many parents is affording data, not understanding computers.
“Not all of them are clueless because we live in a digital world now,” she said.
She now has Wi-Fi at home and has learned the admissions process, so she can help more effectively. She hopes to grow the initiative next year.
Pictured above: The Gauteng Department of Education’s online admissions portal, showing step one of the five-step Parent/Guardian Registration process.
Image source: Supplied
