Issued by: Government Communication (GCIS)
On Thursday, 25th of February 1999 I issued a statement on alleged irregularities during the 1998 Senior Certificate Examinations in Mpumalanga Province. In the statement I promised to do everything in my power to get to the root of the problem. I promised to do the following:
(1) institute an investigation under the authority of the Director-General to ensure that the integrity of the education system and the rights of individual candidates are protected;
(2) mandate SAFCERT to undertake a professional reconciliation of the results of individual candidates for proper certification purposes;
(3) to lay a charge with the South African Police Services on the basis prima facie evidence recorded in the SAFCERT report;
(4) appoint a judge to take judicial oversight over all investigations and processes relating to impending investigations, both by the South African Police Services and SAFCERT; and
(5) authorise the national Department of Education to assume overall responsibility for the monitoring of the 1999 supplementary examinations.
Today I am pleased to receive the report from Judge Bertelsmann on his own findings and recommendations, as well as on his oversight over the investigations by SAFCERT and the police. Judge Bertelsmann has now handed over his report to me. SAFCERT has also completed the reconciliation of the results as I requested them to do. They have now issued the final results, which have already been made available to the media and to the schools. The Department of Education is about to complete its oversight on the 1999 supplementary examinations, and these will be made available soon. The police are also about to finalise their investigations, and will be acting on them in due course.
I want to take this opportunity to express the country's indebtedness to Acting Judge Bertelsmann for the manner in which he has gone about overseeing the whole process, and for the quality and depth of his report. I must explain that Judge Bertelsman actually finished his report within the time frame he had been given. However he and I agreed to hold back on making it public until the other investigations by SARFCERT and the SAPS had reached advanced stages, and would not be prejudiced by the publication of the report. I am personally impressed by the manner in which he has taken much pain to ensure that whatever happens, the rights of the learners are protected. This does not only speak well of him, but also of the whole judicial system in the country, which indeed is meant to protect the rights of the vulnerable at all times.
Let me also take the opportunity to thank my colleague the Minister of Justice and the Judge-President of the Supreme Court of the Transvaal Division for having made Judge Bertelsmann available to us.
As you will see, the Judge has made a number of very useful recommendations, not only on Mpumalanga, but also on the running of examinations in future, in order to prevent a recurrence of the situation. I am pleased to report that my Ministry has already started working on the implementation of some of these recommendations.
We have already initiated discussions with Universities and Technikons on how best to proceed with those students who are already studying at these institutions but who might now no longer meet the admission requirements, based on the outcome of the reconciliation of the results, as recommended by the Judge. Our initial impressions are that the Higher Education institutions are well in agreement with the sentiments expressed by the Judge, and will be willing to explore the matter further as soon as this report has been released formally.
Secondly, my Ministry has already started working on the necessary amendments to the SAFCERT ACT in order to strengthen the role of SAFCERT, in line with the Judge's recommendations, I have advised the Department to keep contact with Judge Bertelsmann to ensure that he is satisfied that they have fulfilled his expectations with regard to the amendments to the ACT. I will also be requesting the department to get in touch with the necessary authorities in parliament to see if this ACT cannot be prioritised by the new parliament.
The Supplementary Examinations have also been conducted under the supervision of the National Department of Education, and I can assure you that when the results come out, which will be very soon, they will be very reliable.
I have also directed the department to prioritise the recommendations of the judge on the running of future examinations with a view to ensuring that they are implemented for the 1999 examinations. This is in line with the recommendations of the committee I appointed last year to advise me on the transformation of the Senior Certificate Examination, and relate processes.
The situation that took place in Mpumalanga cannot be condoned at all. I understand the trauma it must have caused to individual students and their parents. I therefore want to assure the parents of Mpumalanga that we will do our best, together with the education authorities in Mpumalanga, to assist them with whatever difficulties they might be faces with as a result of this. I have also requested my colleague, the MEC for education to take a direct interest in ensuring that the recommendations of the judge that fall within the competence of the province are implented. I also want to assure the public at large that we in the ministry will do everything possible to avoid a repeat of this saga.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have been involved in the investigations for the manner in which these have been handled.
My colleague, the MEC for Education deserves a special mention for the opennes with which he has taken the whole saga from the first day he came across it, to today. His willingness to open the whole process to scrutiny is a testimony of his own commitment to clean government, and accountability. His officials, under the leadership of the Acting Head, also deserve to be commended for their co-operation and assistance. A special thanks to the Director-General, Dr Mangayi for his leadership in managing the whole process.
Most importantly my thanks goes to the people of Mpumalanga , and the country as a whole for the patience they have displayed professionally and without any interference.
Since this government came into power we have done everything to expose corruption in the examination system, and in acting against those who commit such acts. Our commitment is to ensure the integrity of our examination system, and to restore public confidence in the results of such examinations. We are pleased that the public is behind us in this commitment, as has been demonstrated in this investigation.
For further information please contact:
Mr John Mojapelo: Chief Director: Communication
Office: (012) 312-5024
Cell: 083-650-0033