THE civil rights organisation AfriForum has welcomed the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) announcement that it will not oppose its urgent application regarding the Department’s decision not to publish the 2021 matric results in the media.
“We hope to ensure in the court on Tuesday, that the 2021 matriculants will be able to access their results on media platforms as has been the norm in the past,” said Natasha Venter, Manager for Education Rights at AfriForum.
The Department’s announcement follows AfriForum, Maroela Media and Anlé Spies – a 2021 matriculant – who served court papers on, among others, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga last Friday.
The legal action was to oppose the Department of Basic Education’s sudden decision not to publish the 2021 matric results in the media on an urgent basis in court.
The urgent application will be heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria tomorrow, before the matric results are made available on Thursday, January 20.
For the first time in history, the Department of Basic Education announced that matric exam results will no longer be published on media platforms.
DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga issued a letter last week stating that the DBE recognised that section 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provided that everyone had the right to privacy.
Mhlanga said that the right to privacy included a right to protection against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information.
He said in order to comply with the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act, the usual practice of publishing the national senior certificate results on public media platforms would not occur this year.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
Political Bureau