The Department of Basic Education has announced that matric
results would cease to be published on public platforms. The
decision was taken to comply with the Protection of Personal
Information Act (‘‘POPIA'').
However, in a recent urgent application to the North Gauteng
High Court by Afriforum joined by Maroela Media, and a matric
pupil; the court ruled that matric results would continue to be
published in the media as they previously were. Judge Anthony
Millar held that personal details such as the students' names
should not be published. Instead, the results should be published
using the student's individual exam number.
POPIA was established to protect the personal information of
individuals and to protect against organizations and people
distributing sensitive information about an individual.
However, the intended purpose of the Act is not that no information
about an individual may be shared, but that only relevant or
necessary information should be shared.
