Cheats and their accomplices deserve the maximum sanction

I CANNOT stress the importance of exposing sufficiently wrongdoing when it is encountered.

To quote the late US senator and presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy: “Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.”

Therefore, if those matriculants who sat for examinations in KwaZulu- Natal and the Eastern Cape are found to have cheated they should be punished. This may include being banned from writing matric for the next three years.

Officials found to be complicit in suspected mass cheating should face criminal charges, and invigilators found to have been complicit should face disciplinary inquiries and even dismissals. Of course there will be an appeal process for those found guilty. Why such punishments? What they are accused of doing was fraud and misrepresentation.

What purportedly happened was wrong, way wrong. As unsympathetic as it may sound, we want, as the Department of Basic Education, to protect the image and credibility of the matric certificate.

Those who cheated and those who assisted them were cheating themselves out of the learning they would have gained by putting in the effort to learn and passing examina- tions honestly. They risk their chances of future success.

Cheating is the same as stealing or lying. That should not be condoned. Why is it that thousands of alleged cheats, officials and invigilators who helped them, should believe that their personal ethics and morals are better than most? Think about the road after high school and university. As adults, we should face greater consequences for our actions. Turning a blind eye to the cheats would mean that today’s teens and society in general are far too apathetic on matters of ethics. Some may say that I’m unsympathetic to their plight in unfairly labelling our generation as troublemakers and that a three-year ban on writing matric is too harsh. But there’s no way around the fact that a lenient punishment, or no punishment at all, will mean that their ethics are a paragon of virtue.

True, the temptation to cheat is great and the opportunities are ample, especially in today’s hi-tech society, but for the sake of a conscience – you know, that alleged paragon of virtue a majority teens believe they have – don’t cheat, steal or lie.

We are assailed on many fronts by problems that seem insurmountable and insoluble, and it’s easy to become discouraged. But as long as some of us strive to emphasise the need for honesty, we will raise a generation of ethical and honest future leaders.

The regulations allow us to hand down the three-year ban as a maximum penalty and that’s what we prefer in this instance. We could also declare the results of those found guilty null and void and ask them to write again and monitor them closely to avoid a repeat.

We could also ban them for a year or two but we want to send a very strong message that this practice will not be allowed and we therefore need to stamp it out once and for all.

Ethics, integrity and excellence should be the hallmark of building an ethical nation. We should never tolerate cheats.

● Mhlanga is the spokesman for the Department of Basic Education.