The Information Regulator (IR) has been ordered by the Pretoria High Court to pay the legal costs of civil rights organisation AfriForum, for the urgent application brought against the Department of Education to stop the publishing of the matric results next week.
Earlier today, Judge Ronèl Tolmay ruled in favour of the publication of the results.
AfriForum and several other groups were added as interested parties to the IR’s case against the Department of Basic Education (DBE).
The IR argued that the publication of the matric results in public media would be a violation of the matriculants’ right to privacy. On the contrary, Tolmay ruled that it was in the public interest and that the results should therefore be published on public platforms and in printed media.
Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s head of Cultural Affairs, said they and other parties also succeeded in a case on the same issue in 2022.
“An order was then issued that the results had to be published. The case where the merits of the withholding or publication of the results will be decided will follow later in the year, but for now the urgent application was necessary for clarity on whether the results may be published next week or not.
“The ruling is a victory for the matriculants for whom the publication of their results in this way is of great importance. It is also part of the larger conversation that is essential to gain more clarity about the distinction between the right to privacy and the public interest."
The matric results will be released next week.