Durban - The matric results of three Durban High School (DHS) pupils have been blocked pending the outcome of an investigation by the national and provincial education departments.
Lucky Ditaunyane, the spokes-man for Umalusi, the council that sets and monitors standards for general and further education and training, said yesterday that they had received a report from the National Examinations Irregularities Committee (NEIC).
The NEIC had reported on the investigation after the alleged leakage of matric papers in KwaZulu-Natal.
Ditaunyane said the committee had taken a decision to block the results of the pupils implicated in the exam leak, pending the completion of the investigation. Umalusi supported the decision, he said.
“The outcome of the investigation will determine the sanction to be imposed on the pupils. Such sanction may be imposed by the education head of department in the province.”
KZN Department of Education spokesman, Muzi Mahlambi, said they hoped to complete the investigation before the end of next month.
“No decision on the fate of the pupils can be taken until the investigation is finalised.”
The investigation included the level of the leak at DHS and how a leaked paper ended up in the classroom.
If disqualified, the pupils will be suspended from writing the exams for three years.
Meanwhile, the two department employees who allegedly sold the exam paper to the pupils are expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court next week.
Nqaba Magubane, 32, of Ndwedwe and Mo Maharaj, 47, of Riverside, are facing charges of theft and fraud.
They are on R2 000 bail each.
Charges against Maharaj’s girlfriend, also a department employee, have been dropped. She is expected to be a state witness.
The three DHS pupils were also expected to be state witnesses.
The three adults were arrested last month for allegedly selling leaked matric exam papers to pupils for between R1 200 and R5 000 a subject.
It is believed eight papers had been leaked. One of the papers, economics, was found in a DHS pupil’s possession. - Daily News