Mpumalanga pupils take withheld matric results fight to the Constitutional Court

A group of former Mpumalanga learners whose 2022 matric results were withheld over allegations of mass cheating has gone to the Constitutional Court, asking it to overturn a full court judgment that dismissed their review and to order the release of their results.

As Sunday World reported on 18 October, the applicants include Kgothatso Neo Molapo, Archiebold Thabang Mathebula and Jabulile Mabaso. They are challenging the November 2025 judgment of a full court of the Mpumalanga High Court, which overturned an earlier order that the results be released.

The government has given notice of its intention to oppose the application. The notice, dated 14 October, names the Minister of Basic Education, the department’s director-general, the Mpumalanga education MEC and the provincial head of department as respondents.

According to the judgment, the dispute began when the results of 896 learners from various Mpumalanga schools were withheld after allegations of mass cheating in the 2022 National Senior Certificate examinations. Of those, 510 learners brought review proceedings challenging the administrative decisions that kept their results from them.

Acting Judge Johannes Roelofse set aside the department’s decision of 31 March 2023 and ordered that the examination results be released. The provincial education authorities then took that judgment on appeal to a full court made up of Deputy Judge President Thifhelimbilu Ratshibvumo and acting judges N Mayet and HF Fourie. On 19 November last year the full court overturned the earlier order and dismissed the learners’ review application.

The full court’s decision turned mainly on whether the learners had exhausted the internal appeal procedures available to them under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act before going to court. The judges found that although some learners had tried to appeal or had asked the department for information, the internal remedies had not been exhausted, and that the learners had not applied for an exemption from that requirement when they launched their review.

The judgment acknowledged the importance of protecting the integrity of matric examinations, while adding that innocent learners should not be unfairly implicated in misconduct. It also held that allegations of irregularities do not automatically excuse litigants from complying with the statutory requirements that govern judicial reviews.

The consequences have been concrete. In his supporting affidavit, Rence Mofeny Manentja says he was deregistered from the University of Limpopo last year because he could not produce his matric certificate. Manentja, who was studying towards a Bachelor of Science, also describes difficulties involving National Student Financial Aid Scheme funding.

Before the Constitutional Court, the applicants intend to argue that their dispute raises constitutional questions about administrative justice, access to education and the consequences of prolonged delays. They are asking for condonation for late filing, urgent directions and permission to appeal directly to the apex court without first going to the Supreme Court of Appeal. They want the November judgment set aside and the order requiring the release of the results reinstated. In the alternative, they are seeking whatever relief the court considers just and equitable. Their lawyers argue that the educational prejudice the learners have suffered, and the attempts they made to obtain administrative redress, justify constitutional intervention.

The case also puts a procedural question squarely before the highest court: whether the requirement to exhaust internal remedies should be able to keep a court from examining allegations of administrative wrongdoing where learners face years of uncertainty over their results.

Mpumalanga Department of Education spokesperson Jasper Zwane did not respond to Sunday World’s enquiry by the time of publication.