Matric Exam Paper Leak: Minister Gwarube Reveals Source and Actions to Address Breach

• The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, addressed Members of Parliament and South Africans about the matric exam paper leak
• This was after the Department confirmed on 10 December 2025 that the matric exam papers were leaked during the marking phase
• Gwarube indicated that the leak came from a government employee, and Gwarube discussed the actions that would be taken

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.

PARLIAMENT, WESTERN CAPE — The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, said on 11 December 2025 that the matric exam paper leak came from within the government.

Gwarube spoke in Parliament in Cape Town, Western Cape, and added that the breach took place at the offices of the Department of Basic Education (DBE). She said that of the 162 papers the Department set, seven papers were accessed before the beginning of the matric exam period. The subjects include English, Mathematics, and Physical Science. Gwarube said that the papers were downloaded to a USB device and spread across seven schools in Pretoria.

Read also

Julius Malema says Fikile Mbalula is the only obstacle to EFF joining GNU, South Africans debate

What actions will the Task Team take?

Gwarube said that there is no evidence to suggest that the breach spread beyond the identified area. She, however, added that the Department identified that the suspect was an employee of the DBE with a child in grade 12. She said the employee received the paper from another DBE employee working in the exam centre.

Gwarube announced that the Department's Director-General established a Task Team that will include Umalusi, DBE officials, a private forensic investigator, and the University of South Africa. She said the Task Team's mandate is to identify the source of the breach.

The Task Team must also identify the learners who accessed the papers and recommend steps to identify and curb future breaches. The breach occurred less than a year after Gwarube confirmed on 13 January 2025 that there was a potential data breach in the Department. She said a company offered matriculants their results for R100.

Read also

Department of Basic Education confirms breach during matric exam paper marking

South Africans share their views

Netizens commenting on X were stunned.

Nams said:

"How is this happening so frequently these recent years? Corruption at the core of our country is deeply disturbing."

Lemmy Serogole said:

"There's a breach every year."

Lerato said:

"What will DBE do about it? We want solutions, not problems."

Ntokozo said:

"Every year, learners have to go through this."

Over 400 learners caught cheating

In a related article, Briefly News reported that over 400 learners were caught cheating during the 2024 matric exam period. This is according to Umalusi, who released statistics of cheating in January 2025.

Umalusi's CEO, Dr Mafu Rakometsi, said that KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of learners caught cheating, with 195 learners from the province. He said that 74 learners cheated in Mpumalanga, noting that the provinces were at the top of the list in the previous year.

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

Source: Briefly News