Two men sentenced for leaking 2020 matric maths paper
Matric pupils at Sekano Ntoane Secondary School in Soweto prepare to sit for their first matric exam. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
Two men were sentenced by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court after pleading guilty for their involvement in the leaking of a 2020 matric exam paper.
Thirty-six-year-old Themba Daniel Shikwambana and 48-year-old Thobile Sweetbetter Duze pleaded guilty to the theft of the Mathematics Paper 2 exam.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) was notified on 16 November 2022 about a possible leak of the maths exam paper.
Maths paper leaked via WhatsApp
After being verified as a genuine copy of the 2020 Mathematics Paper 2 exam paper, the department was notified via a WhatsApp photo.
Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Singo said a preliminary investigation revealed that some pupils in Limpopo and Gauteng confirmed they had received the leaked exam paper via WhatsApp.
ALSO READ: Suspect in matric maths paper leak case gets bail
The leak was then reported to the Hawks' Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Pretoria for further investigation.
On 25 November 2020, authorities traced and arrested Shikwambana in Orange Farm. At the time, he worked at a Johannesburg printing company responsible for printing exam papers.
Further investigation led to the arrest of Duze on 10 June 2021 in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal.
Shikwambana and Duze fined and given suspended sentences
The Johannesburg Magistrate's Court sentenced Shikwambana and Duze to a fine of R100 000 or 12 months' imprisonment.
The court suspended half of the fine – R50 000 or six months' imprisonment – for five years, on the condition that they are not convicted of a similar offence during the suspension period.
ALSO READ: Officials mum on government printers being source of matric science paper leak
The court also ordered them to pay the remaining R50 000 in monthly instalments of R5 000 by April 2026.
The accused was also given a three-year prison sentence that was fully suspended for five years, provided they were not found guilty of the same crime during that time.
2020 leaked exam scandal
The same year, the Physical Science Paper 2 was also leaked to pupils hours before being written.
The scandal sparked a legal battle over whether the matric class of 2020 had to rewrite the two leaked final exams.
On 11 December 2020, Gauteng High Court Judge Norman Davis ruled that the decision to force a rewrite was unlawful, finding that then-minister Angie Motshekga did not have the authority to make that call.
NOW READ: Class of 2020: Union, dept butting heads over matric paper rewrites
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