It may be a new year, but the long-running fight over the publication of matric results has followed the education sector into 2026, with neither the Information Regulator nor the Department of Basic Education showing any sign of backing down.
The DBE has confirmed that the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results will be released to accredited newspapers for publication on 13 January 2026, despite the Regulator moving to revive a dispute it decisively lost in court last month.
On 12 December 2025, a full bench of the Gauteng High Court dismissed the Regulator’s argument that matric learners can be identified through their examination numbers. The court found that publishing results using numbers only – without names, surnames or ID numbers – does not amount to the processing of personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and adequately protects learners’ privacy.
Read: Matric results | Information Regulator’s argument dismissed as ‘fanciful’
Judge Omphemetse Mooki rejected the suggestion that pupils could memorise seating arrangements or sequential numbers to work out classmates’ marks, ruling that the theory was speculative and insufficient to ground a privacy infringement.
Here we go again
The December judgment was widely seen as the end of a years-long tug-of-war between the DBE and the Regulator. Instead, it has triggered another round of legal manoeuvring.
The conflict escalated in November 2024, when the Regulator issued an Enforcement Notice accusing the DBE of unlawfully publishing NSC results without consent. It ordered the department to halt publication immediately and imposed stringent new conditions for the 2025 cohort, including blanket consent from all matriculants or their guardians, proof of a new consent-collection system, and changes to examination numbering to prevent peer identification.
The DBE refused to comply, saying it would continue publishing as usual and relying on a 2022 court order obtained by AfriForum, Maroela Media and a matriculant that compelled the release of the 2021 results.
The Regulator responded with an Infringement Notice, a R5-million fine and urgent court action to block publication. In January, the court struck the matter from the roll for lack of urgency, and the 2024 results were published.
Further skirmishing followed over whether the DBE’s appeal papers were filed late, before the department sought condonation and launched a review application to set aside the Enforcement Notice entirely.
That all unravelled with the December 2025 ruling, which found no infringement of privacy rights and caused the Enforcement Notice, Infringement Notice and related proceedings to fall away – apparently clearing the path for continued publication.
Appeal bid reignites dispute
In the first week of January, however, the Regulator lodged an application for leave to appeal the December decision, with the intention of taking the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Alana Bailey, head of cultural affairs at AfriForum, told Moonstone the organisation was weighing its options. AfriForum, she said, would consider an urgent application but could not yet confirm whether it would proceed.
“We are watching the decisions of the Department of Basic Education closely,” Bailey said.
“We remain astonished that despite the rulings of five High Court judges in all the litigation from 2022 to the present, the IR is still forging ahead … it is a pity that taxpayers’ money is being wasted like this.”
‘Enforcement notice active’
The Regulator sees matters differently. Nomzamo Zondi, senior manager for communication and media at the Information Regulator, said that the filing of an application for leave to appeal effectively revives the Enforcement Notice.
“We have not yet formally sent an application to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal; we are awaiting the response from the Pretoria High Court, to whom we have sent an application for leave to appeal,” Zondi said. “Depending on their response, we will then file an appeal with the SCA.”
According to Zondi, the DBE must comply with the Enforcement Notice unless it obtains an order allowing it to implement the judgment pending the final outcome of the appeal.
The DBE has rejected that interpretation. In a statement this week, it confirmed that the 2025 NSC results would be published on 13 January in the same pseudonymised format and said it would oppose the Regulator’s application for leave to appeal.
“This opposition is pursued in the best interests of learners, their families, and the education sector,” the department said. “The Department remains firmly of the view that the application has no reasonable prospects of success, given the clarity already provided by the courts.”
‘Order remains in force’
The DBE maintains that it is legally obliged to publish the results in this format, pointing to the January 2022 court order that expressly requires it.
“This order remains in force,” the department said.
It added that publication in accredited newspapers remains an important and accessible way for learners and parents to obtain results quickly, and that it would continue with the court-endorsed approach of balancing accessibility with the protection of personal information.
The department stressed that its opposition should not be seen as disrespect for the Regulator.
“On the contrary, the Department values the Regulator’s role and looks forward to continued and constructive engagement,” it said.
Moonstone asked the Regulator what its next steps would be, but no further comment had been received by the time of publication.
