Victory: AfriForum’s application succeeds – Matrics do not have to rewrite the exams
11 December 2020
Today in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Judge Norman Davis ruled in favour of AfriForum, as well as the four matriculants, in the court application of the five co-applicants regarding the rewriting of the two final exam subjects. The court ruled that the decision of Minister Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education, regarding the rewriting of the final exam in Mathematics II and Physical Science II was ultra vires and unconstitutional. The respondents, who opposed the case, were further instructed to pay AfriForum’s legal costs for the application.
This follows after Motshekga announced on 4 December that matrics have to rewrite the final exam in Mathematics II and Physical Science II on 15 and 17 December 2020 respectively. The court finding today means that no matriculant that acted bone fide has to take the supplementary exam and that their first attempt will be marked and the marks will be made available.
“AfriForum welcomes the court finding and considers it not only as a victory for the almost 400 000 matriculants who would have been disadvantaged by Minister Motshega’s decision, but also as a victory against the Department’s unfair, arbitrary and one-sided decision in this regard. We urge the Department to now focus on arresting the guilty parties to ensure that the integrity of the exams is beyond reproach,” says Natasha Venter, Advisor on Education Rights at AfriForum.
The civil rights organisation will further request that the Department make known what steps will be put in place to prevent similar transgressions in the future.
AfriForum’s application will inter alia be based on the Department’s own regulations that determine that if any irregularities did not arise from the action of the candidate (taking the exam) and if the candidate did not benefit from it, the set of exam papers must be marked and the results be announced.
Issued Andrea van Wyk, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 11 December 2020
