2021 matric results can be published on media platforms, court rules
Lawyers disputed the relevance of the argument that the department was fulfilling the Protection of Personal Information Act
18 January 2022 - 10:58
byShonisani Tshikalange and Kgaugelo Masweneng
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The high court in Pretoria has granted the application for matric results to be published online, brought by Anlé Spies. Picture: SUPPLIED.
The Pretoria high court has granted an urgent application by an 18-year-old matric pupil to reverse basic education minister Angie Motshekga’s decision not to publish matric results on newspaper platforms.
The pupil’s application was supported by AfriForum and Maroela Media.
The court ordered the department “to publish the National Senior Certificate results on public platforms (media platforms), as was the practice in previous years, concurrently with making available the results to the schools that had been attended by the learners”.
At the core of the argument was the practicality of only receiving the results at the school where they completed their matric, meaning that if a pupil is not at the school on the day, they might not receive their results timeously.
Anlé Spies, through her legal representation, Hurter Spies, said this decision would result in grave inconvenience for her as she completed her matric in Pretoria but now resides about 1,000km away from the school, outside Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.
She said it was “critically” important for her to receive her results as quickly as possible after they become known, “since I only have a few days to prepare for the commencement of my university career at the University of the Free State”.
With the results due for release on Thursday, she said in her papers: “There will only be one week from the date of announcement of the matric results until the day on which I have to report in Bloemfontein to commence my orientation at the residence I intend staying in.
“This is unlike previous years. In the past, matric results (except for 2021) used to be announced shortly after Christmas or in early January, leaving three to four weeks before students had to report for their studies at the respective campuses of tertiary institutions they intended visiting,” said Spies.
“I can just imagine that a huge number of the more than 1-million matriculants who wrote the matric exams in 2021 are in a similar position to me in that they had moved or relocated to addresses far away from the schools they attended when they sat for the matric exams.”
She disputed the relevance of the argument that the department was fulfilling the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) as the results that used to be published in newspapers never contained the names of matriculants. “It merely contained the examination number of a specific matriculant, the examination centre where the exams were written, and an indication of subjects that a matriculant may have passed with distinction.
“In this way the publication of matric results on independent online platforms or in printed newspapers never disclosed the identity of matriculants themselves, but merely disclosed their examination numbers together with their results,” she said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
2021 matric results can be published on media platforms, court rules
Lawyers disputed the relevance of the argument that the department was fulfilling the Protection of Personal Information Act
The Pretoria high court has granted an urgent application by an 18-year-old matric pupil to reverse basic education minister Angie Motshekga’s decision not to publish matric results on newspaper platforms.
The pupil’s application was supported by AfriForum and Maroela Media.
The court ordered the department “to publish the National Senior Certificate results on public platforms (media platforms), as was the practice in previous years, concurrently with making available the results to the schools that had been attended by the learners”.
At the core of the argument was the practicality of only receiving the results at the school where they completed their matric, meaning that if a pupil is not at the school on the day, they might not receive their results timeously.
Anlé Spies, through her legal representation, Hurter Spies, said this decision would result in grave inconvenience for her as she completed her matric in Pretoria but now resides about 1,000km away from the school, outside Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.
She said it was “critically” important for her to receive her results as quickly as possible after they become known, “since I only have a few days to prepare for the commencement of my university career at the University of the Free State”.
With the results due for release on Thursday, she said in her papers: “There will only be one week from the date of announcement of the matric results until the day on which I have to report in Bloemfontein to commence my orientation at the residence I intend staying in.
“This is unlike previous years. In the past, matric results (except for 2021) used to be announced shortly after Christmas or in early January, leaving three to four weeks before students had to report for their studies at the respective campuses of tertiary institutions they intended visiting,” said Spies.
“I can just imagine that a huge number of the more than 1-million matriculants who wrote the matric exams in 2021 are in a similar position to me in that they had moved or relocated to addresses far away from the schools they attended when they sat for the matric exams.”
She disputed the relevance of the argument that the department was fulfilling the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) as the results that used to be published in newspapers never contained the names of matriculants. “It merely contained the examination number of a specific matriculant, the examination centre where the exams were written, and an indication of subjects that a matriculant may have passed with distinction.
“In this way the publication of matric results on independent online platforms or in printed newspapers never disclosed the identity of matriculants themselves, but merely disclosed their examination numbers together with their results,” she said.
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