Almost 200,000 applications were processed by the Gauteng education department for grades 1 and 8 on Monday morning - double the number of applications the department received in 2018.

Online applications for 2020 officially opened on Monday and were met with mixed reactions from parents. Some deemed the process quick and easy, while others said they struggled with their applications.

By mid-morning on Monday, there were 196,000 processed applications, according to provincial education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

"Last year around this time, we were standing at 100,000. Today, we are standing at 195,000, which means we have doubled that number," he said.

"Remember, we have 320,000 spaces. If we are sitting at almost 200,000, it means we are reaching the target at a faster pace."

Lesufi urged parents who were experiencing delays to keep trying until they got through.

"We made last-minute changes when we reached the agreement with the SGBs last Friday, so from Friday to Monday our engineers tried to accommodate those changes. That is why there might be some delays," he said.

Some of the parents who accessed the website shared these comments on Twitter on Monday:

• "I'm stuck, the page doesn't want to load."

• "Same here - stage 1 done, unable to stage 2."

• "I just can't pass through the Parent/Guardian Details page - once I press Submit Parent/Guardian Details, it doesn't go through to the next step. I have tried now four times. I am also trying to be patient."

• "Done! Whooo mara this system thing of yours will really humble a person. Better than last year though."