Court orders Motshekga to release matric results in the public domain.
The minister of basic education, Angie Motshega, had earlier announced that the 2021 matric results would not be published in the public domain. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) had earlier argued that the release of matric results on public domain encroached on the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI Act).
Afriforum took the department of basic education to court to challenge the decision.
On Tuesday,18 January 2022, the Gauteng High Court, ruled in the favour of Afriforum as it ordered the minister to release and publish the 2021 matric results on media public platforms. The order demands that the also be made available to schools with matrics to afford learners the opportunity to get their results at their respective schools.
There were two learners who launched their applications to the court to back Afriforum, Anlé Spies, who wrote matric last year at a school in Waverley, Pretoria, and Maroela Media. The court ruling took about 10 minutes owing to the minister’s announcement over the weekend that the department would abide by the court’s ruling.
Advocate Quintus Pelser SC, representing AfriForum appreciated, in his comment, that the minister cooperated positively to the court application, hence, no long arguments. In agreement with Pelser, Judge Anthony Millar indicated that all parties acted in good faith. Millar further accentuated that the matter was in the public interest.
The implication of the ruling is that all matriculants who are far from their schools will be able to access their results via newspapers or online.
Judge Anthony Millar responded to the earlier claim by the department of education, that the release of matric results on public domain encroached on the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI Act), by saying that only the unique exam number of the students who wrote matric appears alongside their results and, only individual learners know their exam numbers, respectively.
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