Wendy Phewa happily assisted her daughter Ngwanelihle Zikhali, who will be starting Grade 1, in fitting her new school uniform at Gem Schoolwear’s shop as they get ready for schools to reopen. Picture: Tumi Pakkies/ Independent Newspapers.
Durban — Excitement and the rush to get school uniforms for pupils has started as parents make their way to shops with their children to get uniforms.
As the rush got under way, some parents claimed it was too early.
The store manager at Gem Schoolwear in Durban Central, Muhammed Pandor, said they were ready to accommodate parents and their children and they have stocked up.
“We are still expecting more parents to come and get uniforms; right now it is not packed. It is still early in the month, but after next week it is going to be very busy,” he said.
Pandor said they usually plan in advance so that they do not run out of stock.
“We plan from as early as February, March the previous for December and January back-to-school rush. One cannot plan in two months to fill the whole store,” said Pandor.
He said that from now they are already planning for the end of the year. However, he said it was hard when they were supplying for a new school and they are not sure how many sizes to stock, but by the end of a season, they manage to have the stock.
“At the moment we have new schools, but we have not run out of stock,” he said.
Moreover, Muhammed Patel, who is a store manager at Gem Schoolwear in Overport, said every year schools approach them to make their uniforms and at the moment everything has been going well. Both the stores were full with parents.
Jadeine Galley, who had come to buy a uniform for her son, said she had been frustrated as she had gone to four shops trying to find a school T-shirt. “The school had an issue with registering a uniform, so we had to buy the uniform in different stores. We have gone to four different shops just to get a T-shirt,” she said.
Honore Mwamba, who was in the store with his son, who was excited to try out his uniform, said this was an exciting journey for them. He said his son was going to start Grade 1.
Olwethu Mgidi who was also at the shop, said so far everything has been running smoothly with getting stationery and uniform for her daughter.
“We are excited,” she said. Wendy Phewa, who was with her daughter, said they had been excited with her trying out her new school uniform.
“She is very excited about going to Grade 1 and getting a uniform. I’m just not sure what will happen on the actual day as she still thinks she is going to her old school,” explained Phewa.
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