Billion-rand bombshell: Private printing of matric papers ‘inflates cost by R2.6bn’

The Department of Basic Education’s decision to allow provincial departments to outsource the printing of matric papers instead of using the state-owned Government Printing Works (GPW), is raising concerns about corruption and price gouging.

The reason for the department’s costly decision has been attributed to alleged concerns about exam paper leakages by government officials.

According to a City Press report, only one of the nine provinces is printing Grade 12 examination papers at GPW.

The other eight are having their national senior certificate (NSC) exam papers papers printed at private printing companies.

Private printing of matric papers a costly decision

This, according to the publication, has increased the total cost of printing from less than R1 billion to a staggering R3.6 billion.

Department of Basic Education spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, Mhlanga confirmed that only one of the provincial education departments was printing its matric exam papers with the GPW.

According to Mhlanga, government was spending between R3 800 and R4 000 per candidate writing final exams.

He stated that the cost of printing, packing, storage and security depended on the size of the province and the number of candidates.

Different cost arrangements

Mhlanga said the department had not worked out the cost of printing one paper, given that each province had different cost arrangements with their service providers.

“Some provincial education departments use the service provider only for the printing of exam papers; while others use it for printing and packing them. Some of the provincial departments use it for printing, packing, distribution and security,” he explained.

Concerns raised about inflated rates for printing matric papers

City Press, however, quoted sources claiming that some officials in the provinces have used the licence to procure service providers to print exam papers to benefit themselves by allegedly inflating printing costs.

“While many people might be focused on smooth preparation of the exams, including printing of the exam papers, distributing and safeguarding them against leakages and theft, some politicians and officials are accused of having identified a gap to loot without being caught,” the civil servant claimed.

‘Drastic’ increase in printing costs

Other sources revealed that the North West department had been spending R8 million to print matric exam papers at the GPW in 2017. However, after a year of printing the papers at a private printer, it was spending more than R27 million.

“The price has been drastically increasing without explanation – and no one’s questioned it,” one informant told the publication.

Limpopo is alleged to have been spending about R13 million at the GPW, but is now spending more than R30 million on printing.

Gauteng insiders claimed that the province was spending about R17 million at the GPW, but was now spending more than R36 million.

“KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are the highest spenders on printing, followed by the Eastern Cape,” said one source. He attributed this to the higher number of matric pupils registered for Grade 12 exams.

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The Class of 2024

This year, almost 900,000 full- and part-time candidates from public and private schools enrolled for the NSC and Independent Examinations Board exams in South Africa.

According to a statement of Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, this was 8,400 more candidates than in 2023. 

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