Hawks nab nurse for leaking 2020 matric exam papers

The Hawks’ serious economic offences unit has arrested a nurse for allegedly selling last year’s matric question papers in two subjects.

Hawks spokesperson Brig Nomathandazo Mbambo confirmed to Sunday Times Daily that Thobile Sweetbetter Duze was arrested in Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal on June 10 and charged with theft.

But her arrest and subsequent release on bail of R3,000 in the Hillbrow district court has been a low-key affair.

She appeared in court again on September 1, and the matter was postponed to September 17 in the Johannesburg regional court.

Mbambo confirmed that Duze will appear in court again on January 17.

Her arrest follows that of Themba Daniel Shikwambana, 31, on November 30 last year, who was employed at a Johannesburg-based company contracted by the department of basic education to print the 2020 matric exam papers.

He was granted bail of R1,000.

The maths paper 2 and physical science paper 2 were leaked to some pupils via WhatsApp before they wrote the exams last year.

Meanwhile, the delay in finalising a report into last year’s matric exam leaks was caused by the lengthy time it took to conclude a forensic investigation of pupils’ cellphones.

This is what the department of basic education informed the portfolio committee on basic education after it requested a copy of the report.

Sunday Times Daily has established that basic education minister Angie Motshekga received the final report of the national investigation task team on August 24.

Motshekga has indicated that she will submit the report to the committee after she has “engaged and signed off” on it.

No official or outsider coming from a service provider will be at a printing venue or distribution site if they have not been vetted.

Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga told Sunday Times Daily that the report will be approved for submitting to the portfolio committee “any time now”.

However, Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, chair of the portfolio committee on basic education, confirmed to Sunday Times Daily that the report will not be considered this year as their programme is “very packed”.

During a briefing to parliament on matric exam readiness last Tuesday, the department’s chief director for public exams and assessments, Rufus Poliah, said that for the first time, from this year pupils had to record the details of their cellphone in an electronic devices register.

“We thought this was necessary because last year one of the weaknesses was getting the devices in because it had to be a voluntary submission.”

He said a number of pupils did not submit their “primary” device but a second phone that had information deleted.

“We thought having this electronic devices register would place some sort of control over the management of these electronic devices.”

Outlining other security measures for the exams, Poliah said that it was now a requirement that a senior departmental official be present whenever question papers are printed.

“We learnt from our past experiences.”

He said that they requested that all staff, including outsiders and those appointed by the department, be vetted.

“So, no official or outsider coming from a service provider will be at a printing venue or distribution site if they have not been vetted. We have put in additional mechanisms to ensure what caused the leakages last year will not recur.”

Poliah said that if a cellphone rings or a pupil is found in possession of a cellphone, “it’s regarded as an irregularity and results will be nullified”.

He said the investigation into the leaked maths paper 2 found that a total of 235 matric pupils were in WhatsApp chat groups where questions from the exam — or the full exam itself — were shared.

Meanwhile, ANC MP Walter Letsie told parliament that most pupils are caught cheating inside the exam room by invigilators.

“We need to catch them before they enter the exam room. I’m not sure if our laws allow it but we may do a thorough search of learners as they enter, to eliminate the possibility of them wanting to cheat.”

But the CEO of Umalusi, Mafu Rakometsi, said the constitution may prevent body searches as it could be construed as an invasion of privacy.

In February, Hugh Amoore, chair of the national investigation task team, revealed the investigation found that the leak of the two papers came from, first, an employee at a firm contracted to print matric exams and, second, from someone at the government printing works.

He said the investigation into the leaked maths paper 2 found that a total of 235 matric pupils were on WhatsApp chat groups where questions from the exam — or the full exam itself — were shared.

In the case of physical science paper 2, the exam or parts of the exam were sent to groups with just 62 pupils. However, there was no guarantee that the papers weren’t spread beyond these pupils, he said.