Even though examinations body could not state the exact date of when the six individuals will appear before court, BEC CEO, Dr Moreetsi Thobega confirmed in a media brief on Friday that investigations into the matter are ongoing and the police have since seized the suspects’ gadgets.
“The police are currently busy with their investigations and I can confirm that the six adults are yet to appear before court and the police have since seized their gadgets for further investigations.
The six have been reporting themselves before the police and will surely be charged and face the law,” he said. However, as for the implicated 10 learners, Thobega said they are using the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and as such they will be allowed to sit for their examinations. He stated that the said learners have already written the rest of the examinations.
Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe revealed recently that if found guilty, the individuals could face a hefty fine of up to half a million or a maximum of 10 years in prison or both. Doing an update on the leaked papers, BEC chairperson, Olefile Molwane said this year’s examinations are currently at the peak adding the Primary Leaving Examinations (PSLE) marking started earnestly on October 23 and will be concluded on November 12. He indicated that marking is going on smoothly.
Molwane further announced that BEC has since uplifted the suspension of BGCSE examinations with immediate effect stating that the examinations time table has now been finalised and exams will commence on November 1 and end on December 7, 2023. The BGCSE exams were temporarily suspended after it was discovered that 19 papers have been leaked.
“The time table will start with papers that were not compromised and will be written in two phases. Phase 1 will run from November 1st to November 23rd and Phase 2, which is the replacement of papers that were compromised, will run from November 23rd to December 7th,” Molwane said.
Molwane added it was deemed important to suspend the examinations to allow time for the ongoing investigations to reveal the source and extent of the malpractice as well as prepare for replacement of the compromised examinations papers to preserve the integrity of the examinations and the credibility of the qualification. Meanwhile, Molwane assured the public that they have been doing everything they can through schools with the help of teachers to prepare learners for the examinations as they are about to commence.
