Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says two employees in her department have been suspended after being linked to the leak of seven papers in the 2025 National Senior Certificate examinations.
She says the Gauteng Basic Education Department alerted her office to unusual similarities in candidates’ scripts during the marking process.
Addressing the media in Parliament, Gwarube says, “Based on the interviews conducted up to this stage, we can confirm the following – the breach occurred at the offices of the DBE where question papers are set. Of the 162 papers that were set, seven papers were accessed prior to the examination – these are English home language papers one, two and three; Mathematics papers one and two; and Physical Science papers one and two. They were shared through a USB device. The spread happened in seven schools in a specific area in Pretoria.”
Task team established
The Department of Basic Education has swiftly established a task team to investigate the leaking of the seven Matric final papers.
Marking is expected to be concluded on December 13th.
