The Congress of South African Students will march to defend the pupils accused of cheating during last year's matric exams. More than 2000 pupils in KwaZulu-Natal and nearly 780 in the Eastern Cape allegedly cheated in last year's matric finals and their results have been withheld pending an investigation.Cosas said it would mobilise so that the affected pupils were "let off the hook" and allowed to rewrite their exams later this year.Cosas said pupils should not suffer because "teachers did not teach properly".Cosas's KwaZulu-Natal provincial chairman Olwethu Zuma said: "Copying was not done by individuals, [it was done in groups]. This means there were teachers and invigilators who aided and abetted pupils. It means the system must be fixed so this doesn't happen again."That the pupils had lost an academic year should be considered punishment enough, she said.The South African Democratic Teachers' Union and National Teachers Union described the investigation into the scandal as a "sham".Some of the schools implicated in the scandal, including Mashiyamahle High School in KwaZulu-Natal's Ndwedwe district, have taken the Basic Education Department to court, saying they could not be charged in a group.The school's lawyers have accused the department of flouting the rules and maintain there is no evidence the pupils cheated.Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's spokesman, Elijah Mhlanga, said the court action had effectively delayed the finalisation of the investigation.© BDlive..