Hawks close in on maths paper leak culprits

Arrests for the leaking of a matric Maths Two examination paper in Limpopo are imminent‚ the Basic Education Department says.

At a press briefing in Pretoria on Monday‚ Minister Angie Motshekga and her director-general Mathanzima Mweli told reporters police had assured the department they would soon arrest the culprits who leaked the question paper.

“On Thursday [last week] we were re-assured that arrests were imminent‚” said Motshekga‚ who left it to Mweli to elaborate.

Mweli said the Hawks' investigation has traversed Limpopo and Gauteng. The police managed to track six “finishing school” pupils who had access to the leaked paper.

“By Thursday last week‚ we were told that the investigation is now taking [the Hawks] back to Limpopo‚ getting close to where actually papers are delivered and so on‚” said Mweli.

“That's why the minister said the arrest was imminent. Some of the information indicated that an [education] official or officials could be involved in this leaked paper.”

Mweli said police have formidable evidence for the case. “The good thing is [that] the evidence that's coming up is backed up not only by electronic evidence‚ but even evidence on paper where money has been paid for one to make a paper available. [We] have such evidence at this stage.”

Motshekga bemoaned the fact that while there are often paper leaks‚ no one had ever been locked up. “My biggest gripe is that we should at least once get a conviction‚” she said.

“Last year we were able to deal with learners. We suspended them‚ some with very harsh sentences [saying] they can't write our exam for three years. [But] people who have access to school papers‚ it's not school kids‚ it's adults.

“Cosas [Congress of South African Students] has come to me to say I'm victimising their constituency [for] sins that don't belong to them. But there's a law that says to me if there's evidence of copying I must act. So we've acted.

“But what is unfortunate‚ especially in the Limpopo case of last year‚ up to now we don't have a conviction because these learners who had access to the paper are protecting their source‚” Motshekga said.

- TMG Digital/SowetanLIVE