Court halts release of results in 2022 Matric cheating scandal

The Mpumalanga High Court has set aside an order compelling the Department of Basic Education to release withheld matric results to learners who were accused of being part of a massive cheating scandal during the 2022 exams.

Their exam results were withheld and declared null and void by the Mpumalanga Department of Education. This was after the department determined at the marking phase of the learners’ scripts and pursuant to an investigation, that the learners had cheated.

The learners turned to court last year, where they scored a victory when the department was ordered to release their results. But the department now successfully appealed that ruling before three judges.

Judge Takalani Ratshibvumo found that the vast majority of the learners implicated did not exhaust the internal appeal processes, as required by law. In the opening to his judgment, he commented that it is often said that education is what remains after one has forgotten what they learned at school.

“In South Africa, the bridge from those learning years is marked by the National Senior Certificate examinations. This is the ultimate test that assesses learners' level of education after 12 years of learning".

But he pointed out that the vetting process ensures that the examinations were qualitative and untainted. The role played by the department in safeguarding this process cannot be overstated, given the significant contribution learners make to the nation after completing National Senior Certificate examinations, the judge said.

Among the thousands of learners who sat for their National Senior Certificate examinations in 2022, there were 896 learners from various schools across Mpumalanga, whose results in specific papers that they wrote were withheld by the department after it was alleged that they were involved in mass cheating.

Their results were withheld following disciplinary hearings, but they were, however, allowed to rewrite after their sanctions had lapsed in March 2023. Up to now 467 learners, including some of the 510 who brought the earlier review application, had rewritten the examination over the years, starting in 2023. The most recent group did so in June this year, while some registered to rewrite later this year.

About 510 learners last year turned to the high court to overturn the decision by the department to withhold their initial results. They said that they could not study further until they had obtained their marks.

One of their grounds for review was that there were a number of irregularities, which should render the department’s decision not to release their results void. The court earlier noted that the department did not rebut some of the accusations by the learners, which included that the disciplinary hearings were done in group form. By conducting the hearings in group form, the department violated the learners’ right to a fair hearing, the court said at the time in ruling that the marks had to be released.

But on appeal, the court was told that 510 learners had filed the earlier review application. It appears that only 101 of those learners took steps in internal processes. About 39 learners advanced a letter seeking information, and 62 learners filed what was phrased as an appeal.

“None of the learners pursued the internal appeal processes to completion; therefore, the internal appeal process was not exhausted. That process could have been undertaken by advancing an appeal as articulated in the regulations,” Judge Ratshibvumo said in ruling in favour of the department.

Cape Times