Court battle over matric results publication continues

AfriForum, who is part of the court battle against the Information Regulator (IR) and fighting the publication of matric results in newspapers, said it will strongly consider obtaining an urgent order for the results to be published next week.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube is expected to announce the national results on January 12. However, the IR's notice to appeal last month’s judgment, which gave the green light for the publication of the results, this is automatically suspended.

Alana Bailey, head of cultural affairs at AfriForum, said that if it turns out that the results will not be published in newspapers early next week, it will consider turning to court. In its notice to the parties, including the DBE, the State Attorneys made it clear the DBE remains prohibited from publishing the matric results in newspapers and that it must comply with the enforcement notice.

This is unless one of the respondent parties obtains an order granting them leave to execute the judgment, pending the final determination of the application for leave to appeal and following appeals.

In December, three judges ruled the matric exams may be published yet again, using only the exam numbers of the candidates.

The issue of the publication of matric results has been ongoing since 2022, and up to now, six judges have given the green light, but made it clear that only the exam numbers may be used. They concluded this provided sufficient protection for their privacy.

The IR tried to prevent the DBE from publishing the 2024 matric results. However, its application for an interdict failed in January last year when the court ruled in favour of publishing the results.

The fact that the DBE published the matric results resulted in the IR slapping it with a R5 million administrative fine. This was, however, overturned when the court in December turned down yet another attempt by the IR to block the publication of the results.

The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) came under the spotlight, as the IR maintained that by publishing the results alongside the matric candidate’s exam number, it was in contravention of POPIA.

The IR felt that learners could receive their results from their schools or be notified via SMS. According to the IR, matriculants over 18 must give consent before their results are published, and the parents or caregivers of those under 18 must give consent.

While it must first obtain leave to appeal from the High Court, if given the go-ahead, the IR wants to appeal the matter before the Supreme Court of Appeal. 

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