News24.com | 'I don't know who declared me dead': 'Human error' blamed for matric candidate's deceased status

Matric pupils writing their final National Senior Certificate exams.

• A North West matriculant was treated as a "special case" during his exams after he was mistakenly declared dead in September 2022.
• He wrote his matric examinations without an exam number and got his results three weeks after their official release. 
• The North West Department of Education attributed the situation to a "human error".

 "I don't know who declared me dead." 

This is the question a North West matriculant has been asking himself after he was mistakenly declared dead and had to write his matric exams without an exam number, separately from his peers, while the issue was resolved.

He received his results three weeks after he was supposed to.

Looking for your 2022 matric results? Here’s when and how to check yours

To make matters worse, Thabo Monyane, who attended Leruntse Lesedi Secondary School in Makwassie, doesn't believe that the results he received were his. His teachers, he claimed, said the results were not a reflection of his hard work.

In a case the North West education department has attributed to "human error", the 21-year-old was declared dead in September 2022, instead of a fellow pupil who had a similar surname.

Monyane said:

He said he realised those rumours were getting out of hand when his mother had to sign pledge forms. 

"When my mom and I got to school to sign the pledge forms (before writing the final matric exams), the teachers told me that they could not find it. I was confused because I was the only matriculant at school who didn't have my forms," Thabo said.

He also never received his exam timetable along with other matric candidates.

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He was treated as a "special case", writing all his exams without an exam number in a separate office, while his peers wrote theirs in the school hall.

That, he said, caused him a lot of stress. He even became depressed, which affected his ability to focus during his exams, he said.

"I don't think these results truly reflect my hard work. The stress I went through during the exam period affected me greatly," said Monyane.

"My teachers said the marks I received were not a true reflection of my hard work."  

His mother, Martha, added: 

The school, according to the Monyane family, has been trying to help them get to the bottom of the situation.

"I think the problem is with the Department of Education," Monyane said.

While he waits to hear from the Department of Education, he spoke about his plans for the future and said he aspired to become a teacher. 

North West education department spokesperson Elias Malindi said: "At the beginning of 2022 academic year, in the Grade 12 class of Leruntse Lesedi Secondary School, there were two learners with... similar surnames.

"Unfortunately, the other learner passed on [in] May 2022, and the school reported the matter to the province for capturing. Due to human error, the surviving learner was mistakenly deregistered at the level of the head office instead of the deceased learner. 

He said the department invited the pupil and principal to its offices to clarify this matter and added that the family would be offered psycho-social support.

Education MEC Viola Motsumi said Monyane achieved good results in five subjects and that he registered to write supplement exams for History and Geography to improve his results.