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).

The DBE was said to be in breach of the processing of personal information after failing to obtain the consent of learners, and that of their parents or guardians to publish their matric marks in newspapers.

“The IR found that no legal justification existed for the DBE to continue with the publication of the results in the newspapers,” the watchdog said.

As a result, the regulator has directed the DBE not to publish the 2024 matric marks in newspapers.

Instead, it has suggested that matric marks be made available to learners using methods compliant with Popia.

These include learners obtaining their results directly from the school or using a secure SMS service to allow them to access their marks confidentially.

The Information Regulator instructed the DBE to obtain the necessary consent from 2025 matriculants, their parents or guardians to publish their results in newspapers.

The DBE will also have to develop a system to obtain consent from learners to do this.

If the enforcement notice is not complied with, the regulator has directed the DBE not to publish the 2025 matric results.

In 2022, the DBE announced it would no longer be publishing matric exam results on media platforms — including newspapers — to comply with the provisions of Popia.

This was challenged by civil society group AfriForum and Maroela Media who argued that learners who did not live close to their respective schools would be prejudiced by the decision.

The North Gauteng High Court overruled the DBE, stating that it should continue to publish the matric results publicly on media platforms and newspapers.

The DBE did not oppose the ruling.

The Popi Act, published in 2013, governs South Africa’s data protection and privacy laws.

The Information Regulator was created and empowered to enforce Popia as part of the Act, which was passed into law in July 2020.

However, the body has had its hands full investigating and cracking down on offenders as an uptick in data leaks detected by the regulator shows that many companies still fail to abide by Popia.

Its jurisdiction also extends to the use of people’s personal information for unsolicited direct marketing — or spam.

Information Regulator advocate Lebogang Stroom said Popia is very straightforward in what is classified as electronic communication — telephone calls, SMS messages, fax, and automated communications.

She said the Act states that direct marketers are only allowed to contact an individual once, during which the marketer should ask for consent to contact them again.

If consent is not provided, marketers may not contact the individual again, which Stroom said companies fail to do.

Fortunately for South Africans, Trade, Industry, and Competition Minister Parks Tau has proposed an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) to create a national opt-out registry to combat spam calls.

While there is already a national opt-out database run by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), it only protects registered users against members of its organisation.

The proposed registry will be government-run and allow users to register a pre-emptive block, barring all communication from direct marketers.