The Limpopo High Court in Polokwane has cleared 50 former matric learners from Baphutheng Senior Secondary School of examination irregularities, bringing an end to a nearly two-year battle over allegations that they engaged in group copying.

The court ordered the Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE) to release the learners’ National Senior Certificate statements of results and certificates without any adverse endorsement.

The learners had been labelled as cheaters after similarities were found in their answers to Business Studies Paper 1 and Economics Paper 2 during their matric examinations.

They consistently denied cheating, arguing that the similarities were the result of teaching methods used at their under-resourced school.

The learners said educators relied on methods including singing, group repetition and recitation to help them memorise concepts and essay structures because they had limited access to textbooks and other learning materials.

According to SECTION27, there was no direct evidence that the learners had copied from one another during the examinations.

The organisation said educators, invigilators and the school principal were also not questioned about the similarities in the examination scripts before serious findings were made against the learners.

Acting Judge Masilo handed down the order on 1 October 2026, with written reasons still to follow.

The court found that the department had failed to establish that the learners committed any examination irregularity.

The disciplinary findings against the learners were therefore reviewed and set aside, along with the decision by the former acting head of department to adopt those findings and the MEC’s decision dismissing the learners’ appeal.

The court also found that the former acting head of department had communicated findings against the learners despite the fact that the body legally required to make the relevant decision and recommendation had not done so.

This meant the learners had been found guilty through an irregular and unlawful process.

SECTION27 education attorney Thato Gaffane said the ruling highlighted the serious consequences of the department’s handling of the matter.

“The learners have lost almost two years of their lives because of an unlawful process. They were branded as cheaters without sufficient evidence and were denied the opportunity to move forward with their lives,” Gaffane said.

The court has ordered the department to provide the 50 learners with complete and unredacted statements of results within five days.

The statements must contain no annotation or suggestion that the learners were involved in examination irregularities.

The department has also been given 30 days to issue the learners with their formal National Senior Certificates, again without any adverse endorsement.

SECTION27 welcomed the ruling, saying the case exposed the dangers of treating similarities in examination scripts as conclusive proof of cheating without properly investigating the circumstances in which learners were taught.

The organisation said the learners came from a school operating under severe resource constraints and that their teaching methods had developed in response to those conditions.

Gaffane said the case should serve as a warning that learners should not be punished because of the inequalities affecting their education.

The ruling now clears the way for the former matric learners to receive the qualifications they have spent nearly two years waiting for.

SECTION27 said the judgment was significant because it reaffirmed that education authorities must follow lawful and fair processes when dealing with allegations of examination misconduct.

At the time of print, the department had not commented.