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Matric results in a newspaper
The High Court in Pretoria has dismissed the Information Regulator’s request to prevent the publication of matric results.
On Wednesday, the court denied the Information Regulator’s motion for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, upholding a December judgment that permits the release of matric results in newspapers and online.
The Regulator had argued that the publication of the results breached the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Law Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Donrich Thaldar, says the court ruling is significant.
“The judgment doesn’t draw the difference between traditional media and new media and online, as long as the information has been stripped of the direct identifiers, in other words, being stripped of the names and just published under a code or pseudonym, then POPIA does not apply and one is free to publish that kind of information because the court had deemed it non-identifiable information.”
X | [TALKING POINT]The Gauteng High Court has dismissed the Information Regulator’s appeal against publishing matric results.
Should matric results be public for transparency or does publishing results in newspaper and online invade privacy of learners?#SABCNews #FirstTakeSA pic.twitter.com/zj2SAaoWIt
— SABC News Radio (@SABCNews_Radio) June 4, 2026
