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An exam paper
This week the National Investigative Task Team, that was set-up due to a matric exam cheating scandal, is expected to release its preliminary report to Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube.
WATCH | Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says during the marking process for the 2025 matric exams, anomalies were picked up in some scripts pointing to an exam leak. pic.twitter.com/uygKHwWE8v
— SABC News (@SABCNews) December 11, 2025
Allegedly 26 matric candidates from seven schools in Pretoria were found to have accessed matric exam papers in three subjects, English Home Language (Papers 1, 2 and 3, Mathematics (Papers 1, 2 and 3) and Physical Science (Papers 1 and 2).
Two officials from the Department of Basic Education have been suspended.
RELATED VIDEO | DBE officials suspended over matric exam paper leaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY8fkIRw6X4
The Task Team comprises UMALUSI, Universities South Africa, Teachers Unions, Department officials and a private Forensic Investigator.
The National Investigative Task Team’s preliminary report is expected to be handed over to the minister but it will not be made public for now. The full report is expected to be presented to the minister at the end of this month.
According to Gauteng Education spokesperson Steve Mabona his department was the first to detect the anomaly.
“The anomaly was identified in the six English Home Language Paper 2 scripts, where candidates’ responses were actually close to resemblance to the marking guideline. So which the problem emanated from there,” says Mabona.
Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube immediately launched a preliminary investigation, which confirmed that a breach had indeed occurred.
“Once alerted the Department of Basic Education and the Gauteng Department of Education assembled a joint investigation team. The team began interviewing the first group of learners whose scripts were flagged and later expanded the interviews to additional learners, likely to have been exposed to the material,” explains Gwarube.
The investigation revealed, the breach originated at the national Education Department’s offices and it extended beyond a single question paper.
“The breach occurred at the offices of the DBE where question papers are set, of the 162 papers that we have set, seven papers were accessed prior to the examination. These are English home language Paper 1, 2 and 3, Mathematics Paper 1 and 2, Physical Science Paper 1 and 2. These papers were shared via a USB storage device, the spread seem to be confined to seven schools in a specific area in Pretoria. At this stage there’s no evidence to show that the breach has been spread beyond this localised area, however we’re continuing our investigation,” adds Gwarube.
According to Minister Gwarube, the alleged culprit is an employee in her department, with a child, who was doing Grade 12. They also found that the implicated employee received a question paper from another official, who works in the exam unit.
Education activist, Hendrick Makaneta says those, who leaked exam papers have betrayed learners and undermined public trust.
“We are deeply outraged by the Pretoria matric cheating scandal. It should be clear at this point that those entrusted with exam3 security have betrayed learners and undermined public trust. Whilst we welcome suspensions of culprits, real accountability and criminal consequences are necessary. Innocent learners must be protected against acts of misconduct by adults. We also wish to applaud the Basic Education officials who detected acts of copying during their marking processes,” says Makaneta.
The full investigative report is expected at the end of this month and it will be up to Gwarube as to when she will made it public.
RELATED VIDEO | Minister Siviwe Gwarube briefs media on possible matric breach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw3aP3q7RQQ
