Cape Town — The Information Regulator (IR) was disappointed with the judgement handed down by the Gauteng High Court to publish the matric results in the media.
The Gauteng High Court dismissed the IR’s urgent bid to interdict the Department of Basic Education from publishing the 2024 matric results, who deemed the publishing of the results as a violation of the students’ privacy under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
The IR said its challenge against the DBE was about compliance and the order of the High Court’s division had no bearing on it, as it did not decide on the unlawfulness of the publication of matric results.
According to EWN, the IR is adamant that the High Court’s decision does not make the publication of the results unlawful, as the merits of the matter were not ventilated.
The order of the court in 2022 that authorised the publication of the matric results did not prevent any conducting of its statutory obligations as part of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
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“When the order is issued, does it mean therefore that the regulator can no longer exercise its duties and responsibilities in terms of POPI Act, which includes conducting its own initiative assessment, which is what we did?” the IR’s Mukelani Dimba said.
The IR determined if the publication of the results was not lawful, it follows that the department will be found guilty of non-compliance by the IR, which may lead to further friction between the two parties.
However, the regulator maintained that only a successful appeal can suspend its orders.
Right2Know, a non-profit organisation (NPO) that attempts to reduce state secrecy and increase access to information, was disappointed with the North Gauteng High Court’s ruling that the IR’s bid was not an urgent matter, Newzroom Afrika reported.
“We are disappointed because, for the ruling to say it is not an urgent matter is appalling. When you go to grassroots areas, it is typical for us to see AfriForum actually respond negatively to the application the application the IR has done,” Right2Know coordinator, Freddy Mathekga, said.
He added that the publication of the results in the paper has eld to suicide and death as children can’t handle the disappointment of not seeing their name in the paper. He also said there have been instances where students have passed but their names were mistakenly left out of the paper.
WATCH BELOW:
Right2Know national communication coordinator Freddy Mathekga says they are disappointed with the North Gauteng High Court Judge Ronel Tolmay’s ruling that the Information Regulator ‘s attempt to set aside the publication of the grade 12 results was not an urgent matter. Mathekga… pic.twitter.com/FALu40Nlb8
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) January 8, 2025
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
