Ex-matric rejects results after long wait
Cheating scandal delayed marks
Life seems hopeless for Mthobisi Ntethe‚ who has been sitting idle at home after losing his job as a car washer. The 22-year-old from Ndwedwe‚ north of Durban‚ was implicated‚ with classmates‚ in the matric cheating scandal that rocked the class of 2014 at Mashiyamahle Secondary School.
They all denied cheating and were backed by their principal‚ Zachias Ntanzi‚ who was adamant that his school was not guilty and went to court to fight the allegations. Frustrated and with nothing to do‚ Ntethe worked at a car wash in Verulam last year‚ while awaiting his fate. But he has since lost his R70 a day job. The basic education department requested‚ in a statement a few days ago‚ that the class of 2014 at Mashiyamahle collect their matric certificates from Ilembe district offices in KwaDukuza.
“The department of education has received certificates of the 2014 candidates of Mashiyamahle high school from Umalusi. The certificates received are bachelor passes‚ diploma passes‚ higher certificate passes and subject certificates.”
It said that candidates from Mashiyamahle who still wanted to improve their results could register to write before January 31 2019. Ntethe‚ however‚ would have none of it: “I have not checked those results because it’s not the results I have been waiting
for over the past four years. “I heard that they have sent a combination of results‚ including supplementary results‚ but we did not go to court for supplementary results. We want our original results for November 2014.” Ntethe said he would prefer to get his results from the lawyer who represented the school in the fight against the
cheating allegations. Ntanzi could not be reached for comment on the latest developments surrounding the release of the 2014 results. He was suspended in August on allegations of inciting pupils and the community against the department. Provincial education spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa confirmed Ntanzi had
been placed on compulsory transfer while the department continued an investigation into allegations against him. The department has accused pupils of being hostile and of refusing to cooperate with officials during the investigation of the copying scandal. About 3 000 pupils across SA were implicated in the group-copying scandal.