Following the Information Regulator's announcement last month that they have banned the publication of the matric results, the Basic Education Department has confirmed that, as per usual, they will continue to publish matric results in newspapers.

LEARNERS GAVE CONSENT

Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said that the department has sought consent from the 800 000 candidates who sat down for the 2024 final year matric examination and that they gave them the thumbs up. "However, one of the issues we have is how we are going to present this information to the courts should it be required as evidence of the candidates consenting to this," Mhlanga added.

ONGOING COURT CASE 

Mhlanga said the court order has given the department the right to publish the results and added that they have also sought consent from matriculants. "Well, it's because there's already a court order in disregard, which allows or confirms the lawfulness of the department continuing to release results in the newspapers. So we are seeking to reconfirm that because since then there hasn't been any other order, we feel that we are caught in between the court saying we can now give the information to regulators, as we can't, and that's why we're going back to court to set that aside," Mhlanga said.

He added that their view as the department is that they are using exam numbers to release the results, but the information regulator feels that the exam numbers are sequential and therefore can be identifiable; they can identify a person. "But that's not the case; they are also saying that the court matter, which was brought to the Pretoria High Court by Afriforum, did not go into the merits of the case, but we are saying at the end of the day, the court ruled that the department can continue to publish the results," he said.