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The scandal involved learners from 28 schools and most of the schools were situated in the Bohlabela district near Bushbuckridge. - Gerald Rambo, Mpumalanga Education spokesperson.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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Some teachers in Mpumalanga’s Bushbuckridge area in trouble following the discovery of concrete evidence confirming that 152 grade 12 learners copied via a WhatsApp group during their 2023 final exams.

Mpumalanga education spokesperson, Gerald Sambo, said that the department’s labour directorate was preparing disciplinary action against implicated teachers.

The scandal involved learners from 28 schools and most of the schools were situated in the Bohlabela district near Bushbuckridge, Sambo said. Learners were found to have group-copied and accessed answers from a WhatsApp group.

“The Department uses investigative marking to establish if there are similarities in learners’ approach and answering of questions. In cases where there is suspicion of group copying, the scripts are therefore taken for further investigation and the results are withheld until the investigation has been concluded,” Sambo said.

Sambo said that the subjects where learners were flagged for group copying were Life Sciences, Mathematics, Consumer Studies and Xi-Tsonga.

He said that learners who are not implicated or have been cleared in the have been notified in writing and their results were released.

“In this case, the sanctions imposed to the learners who were found guilty of group copying is that they would not be able to write in three Grade 12 National Senior Certificate examination periods,” Sambo said.

Learners from EJ Singwane Secondary in Pienaar outside Mbombela have said that the department had given them a verdict of its investigation but they were still in the dark about the way forward.

Sambo said that 66 learners had lodged appeals about the department’s guilty verdict and 33 of the appellants were from EJ Singwane Secondary School.

WhatsApp group copying is becoming a common problem in Mpumalanga.

The department withheld the results of 400 learners last year on suspicions of cheating. The learners have since taken the department to the Mpumalanga High Court and the case is scheduled to sit from 23 to 25 July. Sambo said a total 1 732 learners were implicated in group copying in 2022.

These learners were also attending high schools in the Bohlabela region. They were from Lamulelani, Eric Nxumalo, Nghunghunyane, Acornhoek Academy, Dlumani, Mahlale, Hlavhekisa, Sokisi, Wem, Mdluli and Mhlangane.

The biggest ever matric results scandal to hit Mpumalanga province took place in 1998 when the department’s officials inflated results by 20 percentage points – from 51% to 71%.

This did not have anything to do with learners, but officials who wanted to look good. When investigations were conducted, it was found that learners were given marks.

Mpumalanga premier at that time, Mathews Phosa, fired then education MEC, David Mabuza, for the scandal. Mabuza would shrug off the negative impact of this period and re-invent himself to be the province’s premier and eventually deputy president of South Africa.