As the battle between the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Information Regulator gets into full swing on Tuesday in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, many matriculants around the country wait anxiously to hear the verdict on whether their results will be published in newspapers or not.
This follows the Information Regulator taking the matter to the high court stating that the DBE was acting against the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) by making the results publicly available.
In response to the matter, DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the case between the department and the Information Regulator was not about winning or losing. It was about “clarity” in terms of the implementation of the POPI Act.
“The work of the Department will not be affected at all whether DBE wins or loses. It is a technical issue that needs to be resolved between DBE and Information Regulator and the court will provide the assistance both parties need,” said Mhlanga.
The Star reached out to some of the matriculants in light of the court case to hear their views on the matter.
Kearabetswe Ntsing, a 19-year-old matriculant from Sebokeng said she gave permission by signing the consent form to have her results published in the newspapers.
Ntsing said that she wanted to follow the tradition of seeing her results in the paper and celebrating publicly.
“I want to experience the excitement of waking up early in the morning, queuing at the local petrol station with my friends, rushing to buy the newspapers and anxiously going through the paper searching for our exam numbers,” said Ntsing.
Another matriculant from Sharpeville, who wished to be anonymous stated they were indifferent as to whether or not their results should be published in the newspapers
“Honestly, I don’t mind because no one knows my exam number, so therefore, people won’t be able to check if I made it or not.”
Octavia Bless, an 18-year-old from Vaal, said she would like for her results to be published in the paper, as it would create a tangible memory.
“I want to follow in my family’s footsteps of having a tangible memory of having my name appear in the newspaper,” Octavia said.
Mhlanga also wanted to assure all matric candidates that their results would be available at their respective schools.
“We urge all our candidates who wrote the NSC exams in 2024 to remain focused. They know that their results will be available at the school where they sat for the exam, and that's important to remember,” he concluded.