The Department of Basic Education confirmed this morning that the 2024 matric results will be published in the media.

The department said in a statement that it has lodged an application to set aside the enforcement notice issued by the Information Regulator (IR) regarding the publication of matric results in newspapers.

Court papers were filed by the department at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday.

“The appeal means that the enforcement notice has been suspended and that the department will proceed and release the results to media houses who will publish in terms of the established practice in which only exam numbers are used,” the statement reads.

In November, the IR served the education department with an enforcement notice to prevent the results from being published in the media.

In its court papers, the department argues that the publication of the matric results in their current format  – which only includes learners’ examination numbers with their results – does not identify learners.

The department has provided four reasons for its appeal:

1. According to the department, an enforcement notice, as issued by the IR, can only be done in respect of a past or present interference with the Popi Act. Therefore, by law, the enforcement notice is reactive in nature. The department argues that the proactive enforcement notice served by the IR about the future publication of matric results is thus null and void.
2. The department argues that the IR is bound by a previous court order stating that the release and publication of the matric results is legal in its present format in the media.
3. The release and publication of the matric results in its present format is not the publication of information that can identify a specific learner. Therefore, the department is not in contravention of the Popi Act.
4. According to the department, the publication of the matric results in its present format is in any event compliant with the processing limitations contained in several sections of the Popi Act.

“For the IR to sit back and merely state a conclusion on the basis that the Department of Basic Education has ‘failed to demonstrate’ a compliance with any one of the conditions in section 11(1) of the Popi Act is therefore insufficient,” reads the statement by the department.

Education minister Siviwe Gwarube will announce the matric results on January 13. Learners will receive their matric results at schools on January 14.