On the 13th day of Matric exams, Gauteng government addresses unrest affecting students

Since the start of the 2026 Matric examinations earlier this month, the Gauteng Department of Education has been releasing daily updates on social media. These updates have been rather nondescript so far, simply stating which exams are to be written on that day, combined with some generic study advice and positivity directed at students.

Today, however, the post is far more serious as it covers “protests or unrest blocking access to [National Senior Certificate (NSC)] examination centres”.

“Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, [Lebogang Maile], reminds the Class of 2026 that their safety and well-being remain a priority as they continue with their final examinations. Parents, communities and all stakeholders are urged to help safeguard matriculants against disruptions, protests or unrest that may prevent matriculants from safely accessing examination centres and writing their exams. Let us work together to protect this important milestone in our learners’ educational journey. After all, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’,” the social media post reads.

As a reminder, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) protest resulted in a shutdown of the M1 freeway earlier this week. While it has since been reopened, this is just one of several protests happening this week, which may affect Matric students both in Gauteng and in other provinces.

Continuing with its social media post, the department provides several pieces of information and advice in a “did you know?” section:

• Your life should not be placed at risk trying to reach your examination centre,
• You must be allowed to sit for the examination at an examination centre that is most accessible,
• You must be allowed to write at the alternative centre provided you arrive within the first hour after the commencement of the examination,
• You must be compensated for the lost time accordingly,
• All examination centre access and examination room rules remain in place, irrespective of at which centre you write,
• The above arrangements are only applicable to situations involving protests or unrest which place your life at risk and/or block your access to your registered examination centre on the day of an examination,
• The Department will first investigate the circumstances requiring you to write at an alternative centre before releasing your results for the affected examination paper to ensure that you were directly affected by a protest or unrest.

The above may be important information for any student who finds themselves upended by actions outside of their control. What the department doesn’t cover here is the result of a student being unable to write their exam at all due to such events.

While we’d love for the national government to comment on this possible situation, this may fall into the realm of rewrites AKA the Second Chance Matric Programme.

The 2026 Matric examinations began on 13th October. Not counting days where students didn’t sit to write, today (29th October), marks 13 days of exams. Today, students will sit for Geography P1 and Computer Applications Technology P2. You can find the full schedule in our previous article here where, assuming no changes occur, students will finally complete all their papers on 26th November.

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