Two officials from the Department of Basic Education have been suspended with immediate effect following a breach that led to the leaking of three matric exam papers in Pretoria.
Minister Siviwe Gwarube confirmed the suspensions during a media briefing in Parliament, revealing that the leak was first detected through the department’s stringent marking system.
According to Gwarube, the Gauteng Education Department alerted national officials after markers noticed an unusual similarity between a candidate’s answers and the marking guideline for English Home Language Paper 2. A preliminary investigation soon revealed that other papers had also been compromised.
Interviews were conducted with 26 learners whose scripts were flagged. All admitted to having prior access to both the exam paper and the marking guideline.
Investigators later established that the leak originated from the department’s national office and involved multiple subject papers.
“Of the 162 papers set, only three subjects were accessed prior to the examination—English Home Language Papers 1, 2 and 3; Mathematics Papers 1 and 2; and Physical Sciences Papers 1 and 2,” Gwarube said. She added that the papers were distributed via a USB device.
The minister stressed that the breach was contained and limited to learners from seven schools in one Pretoria area. She also confirmed that the main suspect is a DBE employee with a Grade 12 child, who received the papers from another official in the examinations unit.
Meanwhile, Umalusi has praised the department’s swift response. The quality assurance body assured the public that the irregularities will not delay the release of results for unaffected learners.
The 2025 National Senior Certificate results will be released on 12 January 2026.
