More than one thousand matric learners in Mpumalanga could not write their Maths exams due to the violent protests that erupted in Emalahleni on Monday, 7 November, 2022.
Elijah Mhlanga, spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, said 1,127 learners from six centres in Nkangala District in Mpumalanga could not write the Maths Literacy and Maths Paper Two exams as residents of Vosman, near Emalahleni, took to the streets to protest against ongoing power outages.
The protests resulted in not only missed exams, but also a woman being shot dead, two other people injured, and stores left looted and torched.
Learners writing in six centers were unable to get to schools due to roads that had been blockaded, along with Department officials carrying the question papers who were prevented from entering the township.
"The same measure is being put in place to make sure that they are assisted because, if they miss an exam through no fault of their own, then we have a responsibility as government to make sure they are given an opportunity to sit for the exams," says Mhlanga.
The risk of South Africa's learners missing their exams due to protests has been hovering for some time now, with service delivery protests (amongst other grievances) erupting in various parts of the country, and posing a serious threat to Grade 12 learners taking their final exams.
Earlier this month, a Gauteng principal instructed 53 matric learners not to appear for their Economics Paper One exam, and had also misdirected the province by claiming that there was a protest in the area. An investigation is underway by the Gauteng Department of Education to uncover the details of exactly what unfolded.
Aside from not being able to write Maths Paper Two, learners that managed to write the exam in other provinces had difficulty answering a question allegedly typed incorrectly, making it "unsolvable". Mhlanga has stated, in regards to that situation, that a rewrite (after receiving multiple complaints from learners and parents across South Africa) would not be viable.
Mhlanga has labelled the protest situation a problem, and has asked that community members refrain from disrupting schools and causing "unnecessary stress and anxiety among their own children."
