The Pretoria High Court has ruled in favour of the Department of Basic Education in its plan to continue the publication of matric results in newspapers.
Judge Ronel Tomay on Wednesday said she did not see any reason not to publicise the 2024 matric results when it has been tradition for at least three consecutive years.
Court ruled that matter is not urgent
“I therefore conclude that the matter is not urgent and should be struck off the roll. And I make the following order: the application is struck from the roll due to lack of urgency. The applicant is ordered to pay the costs of the first to the fifth respondents,” she said.
The matter was brought to the courts by the Information Regulator (IR), which believes the 2024 results should not be for public consumption as this violates the rights of learners.
The IR argued that the matriculants could instead be given their statement of results or use the department’s SMS platform to receive their results without unlawfully compromising and disseminating their personal information.
In addition, it stated that the publishing of the 2024 matric results is in contravention of its orders issued against the department. This order was to halt the publication of the National Senior Certificate results.
Enforcement notice issued to the DBE in November 2024
The regulator issued an enforcement notice to the DBE on November 18 2024. And the order was to not publish the 2024 matriculants in newspapers within 31 days of the enforcement notice.
The first respondent, the Basic Education Department’s arguments revolved around the urgency of the interdict. It stated that the IR had ample time to raise their concerns but failed to do so.
The department currently publishes results using matriculants’ student numbers. This as opposed to exposing their names as per the 2022 court ruling.
Ruling welcomed
Meanwhile, AfriForum, the fourth respondent in the matter, has welcomed the court ruling.
“The ruling is a victory for the matriculants for whom the publication of the 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,” the organisation’s head of cultural affairs Alana Bailey said.
The department will publish matric results on January 13 2025.
