A Citrusdal high school principal said on Thursday he was at his wits end trying to devise ways to accommodate an increasing demand for schooling in the rural town.

Ferdi Greef responded to Eyewitness News after a parent’s complaint about battling to enroll his daughter at the local high school.

More than 100 disgruntled parents protested in the town as the new school year kicked off on Wednesday.

Citrusdal community leader Andries Titus is furious he had to fight to get his daughter enrolled.

Titus believes the school has a racist policy: “They don’t want our kids to attend school.”

Greef said the grade 8 class was filled to capacity last year already.

Greef said he even worked throughout the holidays to ensure an additional grade 8 class was established.

“We sit with a situation at all schools that every school sits with a certain capacity of learners it can accommodate and when capacity is reaching saturation you don’t know what to do with the child,” he explained.

Many Western Cape schools have reported growing numbers of learners trying to squeeze in to claim a spot in the classroom.