By Johnathan Paoli
Civil rights organisation AfriForum plans on taking the Information Regulator (IR) to court following its decision to halt the Basic Education Department from publishing the 2024 matric examination results.
Speaking to Inside Education on Monday, AfriForum’s Alana Bailey confirmed that following discussions with the group’s CEO Kallie Kriel, it had given instructions to its legal team to proceed with the case.
Bailey said the decision to go to court was borne from the fact that it was in the public’s interest to publish the information.
“It would not culminate in the infringement of anyone’s privacy due to the fact that exam numbers will be published, instead of names and surnames,” she said.
Bailey said the previous litigation on this matter established this fact, and even awarded a cost order against the department in AfriForum’s favour.
In 2022, AfriForum, accompanied by matriculant Anle Spies and Maroela Media, challenged the department’s decision to stop publishing matric results in the media to align with the Protection of Personal Information Act requirements.
This was to protect student privacy and curb potential misuse of personal information.
The North Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of the publication and instructed the department to publish the results omitting first names and surnames.
IR spokesperson Nomzamo Zondi said last week that the department had failed to obtain permission from matriculants who sat for the previous year’s exams, or their guardians, and expected such permission being sought for next year’s exams.
Zondi maintained that while ordering the department to publish the results, the court failed to make a ruling on the merits of whether processing of personal information through publishing was in violation of the Act.
INSIDE EDUCATION
