Information Regulator to battle DBE over matric results publication before the court

JOHANNESBURG - The Information Regulator (IR) is expected to battle the national Department of Basic Education on Tuesday over the publication of the 2024 matric results before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.  

The regulator seeks a final interdict against the department for its intention to publish or cause other parties to publish the results of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations held in 2024.  

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This comes in a series of back-and-forth exchanges between the applicant and the respondent after the regulator issued the department an enforcement notice per the Protection of Personal Information (POPI)  Act.  

The notice, among others, seeks to compel the department to make the 2024 matric results available to learners using methods compliant with the Act, such as each learner obtaining their results from the school they attended.  

The test for an interdict includes, among others, the establishment of a clear right that would be violated in the absence of an interdict, the reasonable apprehension of irreparable harm, and the lack of a remedy through other judicial processes.  

It added that the department failed to appeal the order by 19 December per the POPI Act; therefore, the order remains valid until it has been set aside by way of an appeal.  

Whilst the department in 2023 published the results using learners’ examination numbers, the regulator insists that the publication of results using examination numbers remains a form of identification.  

The legal tussle is expected to bring the matter closer to finality.