Civic group AfriForum is threatening legal action against the Information Regulator over the publishing of matric results.
This, as the Information Regulator is looking to file an urgent court application to interdict the Department of Basic Education (DBE) from publishing the 2024 matric results in newspapers.
In a statement, AfriForum says its legal team has informed the regulator that it is ready to take legal action if the watchdog proceeds with an urgent application to prevent the publication of the 2024 matric results.
South Africa’s data privacy enforcer last week issued the DBE with an infringement notice, in which it ordered the department to pay an administrative fine of R5 million following its failure to comply with the enforcement notice issued by the regulator 18 November 2024.
The DBE was issued with the enforcement notice last month, for contravention of various sections of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
This, after it failed to obtain consent for the publication of matric results from learners or parents/guardians of learners that sat for the 2023 National Senior Certificate examinations, according to the regulator.
However, the education department lodged an application to set aside the enforcement notice issued by the watchdog regarding the publication of matric results in newspapers.
The DBE filed its appeal application in terms of section 97 97 of the POPI Act on the relevant online high court system on 13 December.
In a letter to the Information Regulator’s legal representative, AfriForum requested to be added as a co-respondent to the case if the regulator goes ahead with the case against the DBE on 7 January 2025.
According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s head of cultural affairs, the request is based on compliance with the court order issued on 18 January 2022, in favour of the publication of matriculation results.
At the time, AfriForum and other parties brought the case to ensure that the 2021 matric results could be published on public platforms.
The civic body notes that the court order confirmed AfriForum’s opinion that the publication of examination numbers without names provided sufficient protection of the privacy of the matriculants while also being in the public interest.
This past week, it notes, the Information Regulator not only announced that it was fining the DBE for the intended publication of the results but also approached the court on an urgent basis to try to stop the publication thereof.
Based on the court order, AfriForum says it considers the enforcement order of the Information Regulator to be invalid and is, therefore, ready to oppose any action against the DBE and the publication of the results.
“Matriculants have a right to privacy, but also the right to access their results on public platforms, provided that their names are not published. This is an established practice, and the court has already conceded that this is in everyone’s interest,” Bailey says.
The issue around publishing matric results in newspapers became a contentious one in January 2022, when the DBE decided it won’t publish them on any media public platforms, citing compliance with the requirements of POPIA as the reason.
At the time, the department said the rule was introduced to respect the right to privacy to protect against unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information belonging to school pupils.
However, the Pretoria High Court ruled the matric results should be published on all media platforms. The court said ordered the results be published via various media platforms without the first names and surnames of the learners, noting only exam numbers should be publicised.
The court’s decision was because not everyone has access to the internet, adding that some learners no longer live in the area where their high school is based and might not be able to access their results timeously.
Share