Matric pupils at Sekano-Ntoane Secondary School in Soweto prepare to sit for their first matric exam on 5 November 2020. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
A green light has been given for the 2024 matric results to be published in the media next week after the Information Regulator (IR) lost its case.
The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday dismissed the regulator’s interdict application for a lack of urgency.
The IR wanted to block the release of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results in newspapers, citing concerns about a violation of students’ right to privacy.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) opposed the application, which was heard on Tuesday.
The regulator dragged the DBE to court over the department’s alleged defiance against an enforcement notice issued in November last year.
The department faced a R5 million fine for breaching the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia).
Delivering her ruling, Judge Ronèl Tolmay highlighted the delays in the IR’s submission of its application.
“It must be stressed that no persuasive reasons were given for the delay in bringing the application.
“The argument is that the enforcement notice and failure to comply with it triggered the urgency,” Tolmay said.
The judge concluded that the urgency was self-created.
“The interest of the affected learners should have taken centre stage [but] it did not. There is nothing before me to indicate any prejudice to learners.
ALSO READ: R5m fine fuels tension over publishing matric results
“The applicants should have at least in an assessment or papers before this court have dealt with that.
“It is also important to note that no evidence of any complaints by learners was placed before me. The whole dispute at this point centres on the contradicting views of the parties involved,” she said.
Tolmay, therefore, struck the IR’s application off the roll.
She further ordered the regulator to pay the respondents’ costs – including costs for the two counsels.
Addressing the media after the ruling, DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga stated that the department did not consider the IR’s litigation an overreach.
Mhlanga explained to reporters that the application was understandable, as the regulator was still navigating its legal responsibilities.
“They are trying to do their work and they are within their rights to do that.
“We also need to remember the Information Regulator is a fairly new organisation that is still trying to find its feet in terms of its legal responsibilities. We also need to understand where they are coming from.
READ MORE: Matric results: Candidates reminded to fetch their NSC statements from designated exam centres
“They need to exert their authority, they need to make sure that their presence is felt because their mandate is critical in the governance of the country.
“Their establishment is appropriate, it is something that we need,” the department’s spokesperson said.
He added that the DBE and IR has to work together to ensure compliance with Popia.
“The courts are actually very helpful in terms of interpreting provisions in the Act and how we should work around the complex terminology that’s there and some of the requirements that we need to comply with,” Mhlanga concluded.
Lobby group AfriForum, which participated in the case as an interested party, welcomed the outcome.
AfriForum’s head of cultural affairs, Alana Bailey, highlighted that the organisation had previously secured a similar victory in 2022.
Bailey indicated that the core issue of whether the publication of the results was unlawful or not will be addressed later this year.
She also emphasised that the IR’s urgent application was crucial to clarify whether the results could be published next week.
“The ruling is a victory for the matriculants for whom the publication of their results in this way is of great importance.
“It is also part of the larger conversation that is essential to gain more clarity about the distinction between the right to privacy and the public interest,” Bailey said in a statement on Wednesday.
NOW READ: Education dept says Sheriff served Regulator matric results appeal day before deadline
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
