Afriforum has called on the Hawks to arrest all the culprits involved in the leaking of two matric exam papers.
The lobby group, which teamed up with the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and pupils, successfully litigated the Department of Basic Education.
On Friday, December 11 the Pretoria High Court reviewed and set aside the Department’s decision to rewrite Mathematics paper two and Physical Science paper two, according to IOL.
Judge Norman Davis found that the decision to rewrite, which was announced by Education Minister Angie Motshekga, was irregular and unlawful, and ordered that the decision be set aside.
Afriforum is determined to see those involved brought to justice and said that it will increase pressure on the Department to finalise the investigation, according to SABC News Western Cape.
“Now we have to check what the department is going to do in terms of investigations. I know they have the Hawks involved and they have already arrested some suspects,” said Natasha Venter, Afriforum’s advisor on education.
Venter further said leaking a national exam paper is a criminal offence, which has to be referred to the police.
“So, there is time to do the investigation and we will certainly put pressure on the department to ensure that they do these investigations so that all the learners that acted honestly, their matric certificates can be certified,” she said.
The Department’s initial internal investigation found that 195 out of the 339 000 who sat for the maths examination were implicated and an even smaller percentage of pupils were implicated in the physical science exam.
Themba Daniel Shikwambana (31), who has been linked to the maths paper leak, was arrested by the Hawks and granted bail. He is expected to reappear in court in January.
On Saturday, December 12, the Council of Education Ministers (CEM), announced that it would abide by the court ruling, according to News24.
Media Statement following the judgement of the North Gauteng Court on the rewrite of Mathematics P2 and Physical Sciences P2 pic.twitter.com/vBj2MeiDU9
— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) December 12, 2020
“The class of 2020, their teachers and their parents should take solace in CEM’s decision that the Mathematics Paper 2 and Physical Science Paper 2 will not be rewritten on 15 and 17 December 2020,” said Motshekga.
“Enjoy your Christmas and New Year’s break, rest and recharge for 2021… but you must observe all COVID-19 health, safety and social distancing protocols at all times.”
Despite its decision to abide by the ruling, CEM took issue with certain aspects of Judge Davis’ judgement and said that they would approach the court to “rectify” them.
“After consulting broadly and extensively with lawyers, the court will be approached to correct those identified aspects of the judgement,” said the Council.
It was particularly concerned with Davis’ “tone and language” when he delivered the judgement on Friday.
Picture: Twitter/@DBE_SA