DURBAN - GETTING up at midnight and heading down to the local garage to get the newspapers with matric results is traditionally the start of matric celebrations.
This is according to matriculants who descended on newspaper outlets, particularly garages across Durban, in the early hours of Friday morning.
The Independent on Saturday visited Pinetown filling stations which were abuzz with activity from midnight on Thursday as matric pupils waited anxiously for the daily newspapers to be delivered.
This was despite the Department of Education having introduced an SMS and an app that pupils could use to access their matric results. They made it clear that they still preferred driving to the filling stations to wait for the delivery of the first newspapers.
As Nokukhanya Shange from Kwantabeni Comprehensive School in KwaNyuswa explained: “Yes, we have the option of sending SMSes and e-mails to get our results, but it’s just not same. Being here with students from various other schools is exciting. It doesn’t matter where we’re from, we’re all just equally anxious, nervous and excited. It’s a festive atmosphere.”
In no time, cars with eager teenagers had pulled up to an already packed parking lot, some even parking close to the petrol pumps.
As the clock struck 2am, word got around that papers were being delivered at a petrol station down the road and anxious youngsters could be heard asking their parents to drive to the nearest filling station.
Some parents protested, saying the paper would be delivered to all the garages and there was no need to drive to other garages in Pinetown. The youngsters were having none of it. Cars pulled away and formed an unplanned convoy to the next garage, where the paper was still being offloaded.
Parents and their children were already bartering with the delivery-van driver to sell them newspapers.
Yesterday morning, triplets from Glenwood Boys' High School, Wandile, Andile and Bandile Nkala, agreed that getting the newspapers to see their results was all part of the matric excitement.
“Everyone goes to the garage to get the first papers. A friend phoned us from a garage and told us our results and we rushed out to get a paper ourselves,” said Andile.
His brothers agreed, saying it was all part of the matric results tradition. Wandile added that their parents were “very happy” with their results.