An urgent matter was brought before the Pretoria High Court by the Information Regulator (IR) to stop the Department of Basic Education (DBE) from publishing the matric results
JUDGMENT in the urgent matter brought before the Pretoria High Court by the Information Regulator (IR) to stop the Department of Basic Education (DBE) from publishing the matric results, will be heard today.
The case began in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday and civil rights organisation, AfriForum, along with other parties, including Maroela Media, was added as interested parties to the case by the IR.
Judge RG Tolmay said she could not decide on the merits of the case as a whole, but only on its urgency.
According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s head of Cultural Affairs, AfriForum and other parties succeeded in a case on the same issue in 2022.
“The judge ruled in favour of AfriForum that the release of matric results was in the public interest and that the use of examination numbers instead of the matriculants’ names provides sufficient protection for their privacy.
“An order was then issued that the results had to be published. This order is still valid, and the DBE therefore argues that it has no other choice but to oppose the IR’s instruction to withhold publication of the results.
“The case where the merits of the withholding or publication of the results will be decided will follow later in the year, but at present the urgent application is necessary in order to clarify whether the results may be published in newspapers and on other public platforms next week, or not,” said Bailey.
THE POST
