- Service delivery protests have disrupted matric exams.
- In Mpumalanga, 1 127 pupils missed their maths exams, while some North West pupils started late due to protests.
- A Gauteng school principal allegedly told pupils not to show up for their economics paper.
More than a thousand matric pupils in Mpumalanga could not write their maths papers due to violent protests that erupted in Emalahleni over electricity on Monday.
A woman was shot dead, two other people were injured, and stores were looted and torched during protests that saw pupils unable to get to class due to roads that had been blockaded.
Elijah Mhlanga, spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, said 1 127 pupils from six centres in Nkangala District in Mpumalanga could not write the maths literacy and maths paper 2 exams as residents of Vosman, near Emalahleni, took to the streets to protest against ongoing power outages.
"The matter is under discussion as to when these candidates will be given another opportunity to write," he said, and called on all schools to be reopened in the area as the situation had returned to normal.
Despite Monday's interruption, Mhlanga said exams on Tuesday morning took place without any incidents.
"South African Police Service cleared the roads for access. Monitoring was intensified, and candidates were able to write. The district offices [were also] mobilised to ensure that the learners are assisted," Mhlanga said.
Mpumalanga was not the only province hit with protests that disrupted the smooth running of exams.
Mhlanga said some pupils in Lichtenburg, North West, started late because of service delivery protests in their community.
“The protest also happened yesterday [Monday]. Fortunately, everyone managed to write, but they started late," he said.
In an unrelated incident, Mhlanga said, the department was investigating an incident at a centre in Gauteng East District where 53 matric pupils from Phandimfundo Secondary School did not write their economics paper 1 last week.
According to Mhlanga, the school principal advised pupils not to show up for the paper, then "misdirected the province that there was a protest in the area".
He said the district would initiate disciplinary action against the principal.
Mhlanga said the department would support all pupils who had missed exams through no fault of their own.
He appealed to communities to help protect the examinations in every way possible.