Election activities must not disrupt matriculants: Gwarube

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says she is pleased with the progress of the National Senior Certificate examinations.

While no major irregularities or disruptions have been reported nationwide, concerns remain over political activities and protests in the lead up to the Local Government Elections on November 4th.

Gwarube has appealed to communities and political parties to ensure their activities do not disrupt the more than 800 000 matric candidates currently writing their final exams.

“We were slightly concerned about some unrest that was happening in the North West. And again, once again, I think we want to just plead with our communities that please can we ensure that all political activity, in this high-pressure environment of political campaigning, all civil unrest, that we try and protect this class so that they can be able to go and write so that they can start to unlock a future for themselves.”

Meanwhile, the matric class at the Anton Lembede Academy in La Mercy, Durban, are confident they will excel in their finals.

On Thursday, learners sat for their Accounting Paper 1 exam.

While some were nervous, others were beaming with confidence.

“I’m preparing thoroughly to ensure that as I write, I write correctly and not panic when I get to the examination venue.”

“I feel like I’m the most prepared, I’ve ever been in my entire life. We have gone through lots of revision sessions with our teacher’s and we’ve also pushed ourselves to achieve and be at the level we are at.”

“Most of the stuff that I learned came out in the paper and I understood the terminologies that were asked in the papers.”

Gwarube visited the school to monitor the administration of the examinations.

As the exams enter their second week, she confirmed that no major incidents have been reported across the country.

Of the Class of 2026, KwaZulu-Natal accounts for the largest group, with over 200 000 candidates.

For many learners, one of the biggest papers lies ahead this Friday, Mathematics Paper 1.

“The aim is to not achieve anything less than 100%. The goal is just to get a total.”

“When you aim for the stars, you going to always land on the moon. If you believe in yourself already then, it’s just only part of the process of just showing else how great you are.”

“I’m hoping to pass very well with distinctions and I’m hoping to study medicine. yeah, that’s my dream.” – report by Zanele Buthelezi.