On Monday night, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announced the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) matric results which showed a historic pass rate of 87.3%
This was an increase from 82.9% in 2023, 80.1% in 2022 and 76.4% in 2021.
Gwarube said every province achieved above 84% pass rate.
She said 2024 produced the highest number of Bachelor passes compared to other years.
KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of Bachelor passes followed by Gauteng and the Eastern Cape respectively.
Mpumalanga and Limpopo improved the number of distinctions compared to 2023.
The Free State was the best performing province at 91.0%, increasing its pass rate from 89.0% in 2023 with KwaZulu Natal taking second position with a pass rate of 89.5% - an increase of 3.2% from 2023.
Number three was Gauteng, which increased its pass rate from 85.4% in 2023 to 88.4% in 2024 while the North-West Province coming in at number four with 87.5%, which represents an increase of 5.9% from 2023.
Number five is the Western Cape at 86.6%, which represents an increase of 5% from 2023.
The announcement of the 2024 matric results comes after a strenuous battle between the Department of Education (DBE) and the Information Regulator regarding the publishing of the 2024 matric results in newspapers
Last week Wednesday, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed an urgent application by the regulator to interdict the DBE from publishing 2024 matric results in newspapers.
The court said the regulator's urgency was self-made.
In its application, the regulator argued that publishing results would expose learners' personal information.
In December, the regulator slapped the DBE with a R5 million fine for not upholding an enforcement notice issued on November 18, 2024, prohibiting the department from publishing 2024 matric results in newspapers.
The regulator said the DBE had 30 days from Monday, December 23, 2024, to pay the administrative fine, or make arrangements with the regulator to pay the administrative fine in instalments.
This year, about 13 250 learners registered to sit for the IEB National Senior Certificate exams, with the results receiving approval from Umalusi, South Africa's quality assurance body, which confirmed the integrity of the examination process.
The results will be published in Independent Media daily newspapers on Tuesday, January 15, 2025