By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Information Regulator (IR) has filed an urgent application for leave to appeal a High Court ruling to publish final matric results in newspapers and on digital platforms.
The Regulator has since sought a full review of the DBE’s established practice of publishing results — contending that it constitutes a breach of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) maintained that its publication method — which displays examination numbers without names or other personal identifiers — does not contravene POPIA, as the information published cannot be directly or indirectly linked to any individual without intimate or prior knowledge.
For decades, the publication of matric results has been a matter of public interest and national transparency, providing reassurance to learners, families, and the broader public regarding the integrity of the national examination system.
In his ruling, Judge Omphemetse Mooki was unsparing, calling the Regulator’s position “fanciful” and “akin to a poorly constructed thought experiment”.
“No empirical evidence supports the position. The Regulator’s stance does not reflect events in the real world,” he said.
The ruling clears the way for matric results to continue being published on public platforms using exam numbers only. The Court rejected the theory that learners would memorise each other’s seating positions or sequential numbers to identify classmates’ marks. Publishing numbers-only results, the judges found, does not disclose personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and provides sufficient privacy protection.
In its application to the SCA, the regulator argued that the High Court had introduced a new concept in the interpretation and application of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), “the so-called personally identifiable information which is not provided for in the [POPIA]”.
“The parties were not given an opportunity to make any submissions on the meaning of the phrase ‘personally identifiable information’ in the context of the dispute before the court, as a result of which their right to a fair hearing was violated,” it stated in the application.
The regulator argued that the High Court had wrongly focused on the manner of publication, as the POPI Act was not concerned with the trouble a person went to in identifying the data subject.
The regulator said it was in the interests of justice and in the public interest that the lawfulness of the publication of matric results be finally determined by a higher court.
It filed an urgent application to prevent the publication of the NSC examination results in newspapers, citing concerns about a potential violation of students’ privacy under POPIA.
This was after it issued an Enforcement Notice and an Infringement Notice, carrying a fine of R5 million, in late 2024 against the Department of Basic Education (DBE) for failing to comply with the Regulator’s directive on the publication of matric results in newspapers.
South Africa’s education regulator, Umalusi, has confirmed the 2025 matric results will be released on 12 January 2026.