Judgment reserved in case on publication of matric results
Judgment was reserved today in the case of which AfriForum is a party regarding the publication of matric results in newspapers and on other public platforms. This case was heard yesterday and today (27 and 28 October 2025) by a full bench of judges in the High Court in Pretoria.
According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, the dispute regarding the public publication of matric results began in 2022 when the Department of Basic Education (DBE) tried to prohibit it. In legal action that followed, the judge agreed with AfriForum and the other parties involved at the time that the publication of the results was in the public interest and that the use of examination numbers instead of the names of the matriculants provided sufficient protection for their privacy.
At the end of last year, the Information Regulator (IR) tried to prevent the DBE from publishing the 2024 matric results. The IR’s application to obtain an interdict against it, however, failed on 8 January 2025 when Judge Ronèl Tolmay ruled in favour of its publication. A court order was then issued that the results had to be published. With this order still applying to it, the DBE therefore argues that it has no other choice but to oppose the IR’s instruction to withhold publication of the results.
In the court case that began on Monday, the merits of the publication have now been argued, which also included arguments about the nature of personal information and the interests of those who require access to the matric results by means of public platforms.
AfriForum is one of the parties in favour of public publication. “Matriculants regularly request AfriForum to help ensure that they will still be able to get their results in the media as in the past. We will protect their interests in this regard as far as possible. It is also important that more clarity is obtained about when individuals’ privacy must be protected at all costs, and when disclosure of information is deemed to be in the public interest. The ruling in this case will contribute to creating more certainty in this regard,” Bailey says.
