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The Information Regulator’s (IR) application for leave to appeal on the public announcement of matric results will be heard on Thursday.
A full bench of judges already ruled in favor of AfriForum and other parties at the end of last year that the results may indeed be published.
According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s head of cultural affairs, the dispute already started in 2022 when the department of basic education tried to ban the publication of matric results. In the legal action that followed, the court ruled at the time that the publication of the results was in the public interest.
The dispute flared up again in late 2024 when the IR tried to block the publication of the 2024 matric results. However, the regulator’s application to obtain an interdict against the publication failed, after which the case was heard on the merits.
Last year, the full bench of judges confirmed that matric results may be published on public platforms. The court found that the use of examination numbers as the only means of identification provides sufficient protection for matriculants’ privacy. The court also found that the department had acted lawfully by not complying with the IR’s instruction to withhold the results.
However, the IR disputes the court’s competence to condone the disregard of statutory instructions such as those of the regulator to the department and is now applying for leave to appeal on the basis of that and other technical points.
Bailey warns that the case’s outcome could have wider implications than just matric results.
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“Several research sites work with information from individuals that can only be identified by means of numbers or codes. This is precisely used to protect their right to privacy and anonymity. Should the IR win the case, it gives extensive power to this institution to prohibit the use of such data, which can bring vital research to a standstill.”
AfriForum says it trusts that the case can now be finally settled and that the outcome will create a clear balance between the protection of privacy and the promotion of the public interest.
