South Africa’s 2025 matric exams have been hit by a serious security breach involving a USB storage device. The Department of Basic Education has confirmed that two of its employees have been suspended after allegedly leaking confidential exam papers and answers to parents, who then passed them on to matric learners.
According to Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, the leaked materials included the English Home Language, Mathematics and Physical Sciences papers. Around 26 learners from seven schools are now under investigation for using the stolen information to cheat during their final exams.
The department explained that the breach happened when exam scripts and answers were copied onto a USB device and shared privately among a small group of parents. While this method helped contain the leak, officials warned that if the papers had been distributed through social media, the impact on the 2025 matric exams could have been far more severe.
The issue first came to light when markers in Gauteng noticed that several exam scripts looked “almost verbatim” to the official marking guidelines. A representative from the department’s exams unit said: “The anomaly was detected in Gauteng, six candidate scripts demonstrated a very close resemblance to original marking guidelines, we must include novel and new questions.”
The representative added: “It is anomalous to find multiple candidates writing the same thing for a novel question, because there is no way they would have seen it previously.”
Five learners were interviewed, and some admitted to receiving the stolen exam content before writing their papers. Any learner found guilty of cheating will be banned from writing matric exams for three exam cycles, covering both June and November sittings.
Minister Gwarube said harsher consequences await the departmental employees accused of leaking the papers. SAPS is investigating the alleged theft of state property, which could lead to charges relating to corruption, fraud and cybercrime. If convicted, the accused could face up to 15 years in prison.
“If you’re a public service and if you’re corrupt in our system we will not tolerate it,” Gwarube stated.
An internal investigation is underway involving Umalusi, Universities South Africa, teacher unions and an independent investigator. The national task team will determine how far the breach spread, identify its source and assess whether the credibility of the 2025 matric exams has been compromised.
This incident follows a similar leak during the 2024 exam cycle, where suspects were later arrested.
