The department said the ongoing investigation into leaked exam papers in Pretoria will not affect innocent matric pupils. At the same time, two officials have been suspended for allegedly having stolen matric papers and memorandum in their possession.

The department confirmed seven Pretoria schools were implicated in the leak of mathematics, English home language, and physical science papers, and at least 26 candidates had access to the question papers.

The leak was found after several exam papers caught markers’ attention in Gauteng. This was brought to the attention of the Gauteng education department, which notified the national department.

Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube confirmed DBE staff leaked the papers. One of the staff members is a parent to a student in matric, she said during a media briefing on Thursday (11/12).

“The investigation will extend beyond the three subjects,” said the department’s exam unit director, Priscilla Ogunbanjo. “A sample of other papers will also be reviewed.

“During preliminary investigations, eight pupils were interviewed, and there was an admission that they had prior access to the question paper and the marking guideline for English home language paper 2.”

That is the reason why some of the candidates’ answers were almost a copy of the marking guideline, said Ogunbanjo. To find out if the required procedures were followed, a national investigative team will speak with invigilators who were on duty when the involved subjects were being written.

‘Papers were shared via a USB’

During the media briefing, it was revealed the papers were shared via a USB. Since initial investigations point to the intentional possession of stolen state property, the department reported the matter to the police so that the criminal aspect could be looked into.

“We want it to lead to successful prosecutions because we want to make sure that we send a clear message to the public, that if you are a corrupt public servant, we will not tolerate it. 

“I will not be identifying the schools, as we don’t want to create panic. We really want to assure parents of the sanctity of the process, especially learners who showed up and worked hard.”

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