Information Regulator says 2024 matric results should not be published in the newspapers

Daniel Puchert

Daniel Puchert

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Big announcement about matric results

South Africa's Information Regulator has directed the Department of Basic Education (DBE) not to publish the 2024 matric results in the newspapers and obtain consent before publishing the 2025 results this way.

This follows the Information Regulator (IR) issuing the DBE with an enforcement notice after finding it was not compliant with section 11 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia).
 
It was useful in the past but there's no need for it in this day and age. SMS/Email the student and school and that's it

School's can put up a list on their notice board for the loonies who will argue students don't all have cellphone/email/access to the interwebs
 
Since all .gov.za websites are zero-rated, what's the problem to just check results on the DBE website?
 
Daniel Puchert said:
Big announcement about matric results

South Africa's Information Regulator has directed the Department of Basic Education (DBE) not to publish the 2024 matric results in the newspapers and obtain consent before publishing the 2025 results this way.

This follows the Information Regulator (IR) issuing the DBE with an enforcement notice after finding it was not compliant with section 11 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia).
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Seriously - do newspapers, still exist. It has been years, since, I have seen one available for purchase.
 
ShaunSA said:
It was useful in the past but there's no need for it in this day and age. SMS/Email the student and school and that's it

School's can put up a list on their notice board for the loonies who will argue students don't all have cellphone/email/access to the interwebs
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Nonsense, it is more useful now than ever, especially with the advent of social media and modern messaging. I never got the chance to check my friends results posted publicly in the local newspaper and then belittle them on MyTwatFaceTok or our WhatsApp group for being dumb ****s. I don't want kids today to not have that opportunity
 
elf_lord_ZC5 said:
Seriously - do newspapers, still exist. It has been years, since, I have seen one available for purchase.
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You can find them in Shoprite in rural areas.

Seeing this is about POPIA, can prospective employers enquire about matric certificates without jumping through hoops?
 
Definitely still exist in various forms and qualities - both in terms of print and journalism. I am not a regular subscriber, but I do like buying Die Burger on weekends, and catching up on the weeks main stories etc. Something nice about actually holding a paper in your hand and reading it, compared to online with badly laid out websites and annoying pop up ads or “paid content” nonsense stories cluttering the feed.

Daily maverick also does a decent weekly paper in print.

Back to the actual topic. What possible harm could come from the POPI violoations (if any) of printing the matric results in the paper? Worst is maybe some embarrassment for L kids who didn’t study hard enough. But it’s a nice tradition of everyone rushing to get the paper and check the results when they come out, and a good boost in sales for the newspapers on the day to boot.
 
Don't live in a Rural Area - so don’t know.

Thanks.


So many "fake" qualifications out there - hiring folks these days is rough.
 
Agree, matric results cannot be categorised as news. It does not belong in a newspaper.
 
Pax said:
Agree, matric results cannot be categorised as news. It does not belong in a newspaper.
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Advertisements cannot be categorized as news either. Also not belong in newspaper?
 
ProfA said:
Advertisements cannot be categorized as news either. Also not belong in newspaper?
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Ads finance the newspaper and has a broad target. Matric results not.
 
ProfA said:
The government does not pay to have the results published? It's free?
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Irrelevant. It is neither news and concern only a few people. It is irrelevant in context of a newspaper. Either way, I have not bought a newspaper in decades.
 
Pax said:
Irrelevant. It is neither news and concern only a few people. It is irrelevant in context of a newspaper. Either way, I have not bought a newspaper in decades.
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LOL, now its irrelevant. LMAO
 
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