Department of Basic Education Confirms Breach During Matric Exam Paper Marking

• The Department of Basic Education announced that it will hold a press briefing after its system was compromised
• The Department said that the compromise took place during the marking of the recent matric exam papers
• Matriculants recently completed their National Senior Certificate exams, and the department said that it will announce interventions

Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of Current Affairs, contributed coverage of international and local social issues, including health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests, and immigration in South Africa, during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

GAUTENG — The Department of Basic Education confirmed that it identified a breach while marking the 2025 National Senior Certificate exam papers.

The Department issued a brief statement on 10 December 2025. The Department said that a press briefing will be held on 12 December to provide more information and details about the breach. The Department said that Minister Siviwe Gwarube will outline the interventions to be taken to protect the results.

Read also

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube reveals matric papers leaked by government employee

Have exam papers been leaked before?

The Department of Basic Education has dealt with possible data breaches in the past. Gwarube confirmed on 13 January 2025 that there was a possible data breach in the department. She said that a company offered learners their results for R100 and considered the breach grave. She said the breach may have occurred when the matric results were shared with other stakeholders. Gwarube added that the Department may have also been a victim of cybercrime.

Over 400 learners were caught cheating during the National Senior Certificate exams of 2024. The CEO of Umalusi, Dr Mafu Rakometsi, said that 195 learners were from KwaZulu-Natal and 74 were from Mpumalanga. He said that it was a concern that Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal are at the top of the list.

South Africans comment

Netizens commented on X about the breach. Some were worried.

Read also

Madlanga Commission of Inquiry officials visit family of murdered witness, Marius Van Der Merwe

Dineo Maphutha asked:

"Aren't these uncovered annually with no mitigation systems put in place to avert reoccurrence?"

Zukie said:

"Same DA would be crucifying Angie during her tenure.They must taste it. It's not pap en vleis."

Victim aaid:

"Most private schools use real papers for revision and sometimes run open book tests."

Debbie Watt said:

"The Department of Education should've put appropriate measures in place prior to final papers into order to prevent irregularities! They keep repeating the same mistake!"

Abram manoge asked:

"How does a breach happen during marking? What exactly happened?"

Re Lawrence said:

"Every year there is a problem, yet we pretend there is so much ecellence to be rewarded."

Sviwe Gwarube allocates R1.7 billion to ECD

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Gwarube boosted Early Childhood Development with a R1.7 billion grant. She made the announcement while tabling the department's budget for the 2025/26 financial year in Parliament.

Read also

Tshwane property evicts Vusimisi "Cat" Matlala's company Medicare24 for rent non-payment

Gwarube said that more than R30 million has been allocated for the ECD nutrition pilot. The department also set aside R162 million for ECD infrastructure. Gwarube said that the Department's goal is to ensure that every child can read and calculate before the age of 10.

Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.

Source: Briefly News