PAIA COMPLIANCE

PAIA legislation gives life to the right to access information enshrined in section 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. The purpose of this legislation is promote a culture of transparency, accountability and good governance both in the private and public sectors. Therefore, the Act places specific compliance requirements on both state institutions and private sector actors.

PAIA  gives a requester the right to lodge a request from the information officer (head) of a private body. A private body as defined in the  Act includes juristic bodies. The Act further defines the head of a private body as “ the chief executive officer or equivalent officer of the juristic person or any person duly authorized by that office….”
In terms of s51 of PAIA, the head of a private body must :

1. compile a s51 manual which is a roadmap of the company
2. submit the manual to the South African Human Rights Commission once per annum;
3. update of any material changes on the manual on a regular basis;
4. make the manual available as prescribed by the Act at the company offices and on their website;
5. must  annex a request form to the manual and  also make request form available on the website and at the company premises access points;

The manual must among others contain the following information:

a) details of the company’s postal, email and street address, fax and phone of the company,
b) the description of available records generated by the company stating those which are automatically available and those that are available on request.
c) outline the request procedure in terms of PAIA;
d) state who the head of the company is ( Information Officer in terms of PAIA)
e) stipulate the fees applicable as legislated by the Act which are chargeable to requesters
f) remedies available to requesters if their request for information has been refused
g) details facilitating request for access to a record etc.

For ease of reference click to access the following:  a copy of the legislation, a guide on how to compile a section 51 manual, a copy of a form C for making a request, fee structure and the exemptions passed by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2005.

The South African Human Rights Commission provides training and general assistance on PAIA. For further information contact The South African Human Rights Commission, 011 877 3627, ckisoon@sahrc.org.za,  www.sahrc.org.za

CONSUMER PROTECTION BILL

To view the Certified KZN Consumer Protection Bill 2010 click here.

To view the KZN Consumer Protecton Bill public consultations presentation click here.

To view a presentation by  on The Consumer Protection Act and The Protection of Personal Information Bill click here.