GUIDANCE NOTES:

NO FEES are payable to the Commission for submission of your manual.

NOTICE: Private Sector PAIA Manual Submission Extension

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has extended the exemption which was to have lapsed on the 31st of December 2011. Private companies within certain sectors are now exempted from compiling and submitting information manuals in terms of section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to the South African Human Rights Commission until the 31st of December 2015.

While these private companies no longer have to submit manuals during the period of the new exemption they are not exempted from complying with the rest of the Act. Please also note that if an entity is a private body but not a private company as defined in the Companies Act of 2008 e.g. an non-governmental organization, it will not have to comply with section 51 of the legislation until the end of the moratorium exempting such companies.

In terms of the Government notice no.34914 certain private bodies will still have to submit their manuals in terms of the legislation to the Commission.

These private bodies are those which operate in specific sectors, with 50 or more employees OR operate in specific sectors and have an annual turnover equal to or exceeding specific amounts.

The particular sectors and turnover amounts are listed below:

SECTOR	EMPLOYEES	ANNUAL TURNOVER in millions ZAR
Agriculture	50 or more	02
Mining and Quarrying	50 or more	07
Manufacturing	50 or more	10
Electricity, Gas, Water	50 or more	10
Construction	50 or more	05
Retail, Motor Trade and Repair Services	50 or more	15
Wholesale Trade, Commercial Agents, and Allied Services	50 or more	25
Catering, Accommodation and other Trade	50 or more	05
Transport, Storage and Communications	50 or more	10
Financial and Business Services	50 or more	10
Community, Special and Personal Services	50 or more	05

GUIDANCE NOTES:

Please note in general that the PAIA legislation creates the framework 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 to 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.

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 section 51 of PAIA, the head of a private body must:

compile a section 51 manual which is a roadmap of the company (downloadable generic template)
submit the manual to the South African Human Rights Commission once
effect material changes if any each time these occur and resubmit to the SAHRC
electronic submissions to the Commission are accepted, sent to Ramadimeja Legodi:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Nomfundo Khulu:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.thereafter followed by hard copy originals;
manuals must be submitted to SAHRC head office at the address listed below
update any material changes on the manual on a regular basis;
make the manual available as prescribed by the Act at the company offices and on their website;
must annex a request form to the manual and also make request form available on the website and at the company premises access points;
there are penalties for non compliance – please see section 90 of PAIA, the Commission has not imposed fines for non compliance to date but reserves the right to do.

The manual must among others contain the following information:

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

For ease of reference please refer to the legislation available on this website as well as the prescribed request form C for making a request (this must be attached to the manual), fee structure and the exemptions passed by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2005 . Please note the exemption from compliance lasts until the 31st December 2015.

After compiling your manual a signed copy by the head of your organisation (initialled on every page and a full signature on the last page) must either be emailed or posted to the PAIA Unit of the Commission.

Please e-mail the signed copy to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and post hard copy to the following address of the Commission;

Contact Persons for Enquiries relating to compliance with section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA):

011 877 3825

Ramadimeja Legodi:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nomfundo Khulu:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Private Bag X2700
Houghton
2041
Tel: 011 877 3803
Fax: 011 403 0625

Lodging PAIA Requests

Request forms A, B and C

Form A
The form below needs to be completed when a request for information is made to a public body. Please note that these forms must be made available from the public body in question and that the personnel tasked with processing/receiving requests for information MUST assist in completing the form if you require assistance. Certain public bodies will accept electronic submissions of forms.

Please also note that if you earn below R14 712 a year or you and your partners combined income is less than R27 192 per year, you will not have to pay a request fee with your application.

You will also not have to pay a request fee if your request for information is a request for your personal information.
In all other instances a fee of R35.00 needs to accompany your request.

Further information on the submission of requests can be found in the frontline training manual, the section 10 guide and the legislation also available on this site.

SAHRC Section 14 Manual

English

IsiZulu

Afrikaans

Section 15 Manual

Form B
The form below needs to be completed when a request for information to a public body has been refused or the public body has provided no response to your request 30 working days after the request was submitted. The Form B is the form to be used when you wish the decision of the public body not to grant access to information to be reconsidered.

Appeals can only be lodged with certain public bodies defined as category A public bodies in the PAIA legislation. These are all national, provincial and local government public bodies.

Form C
The form below needs to be completed when a request for information is made to a private body (business). Please note that these forms must be made available from the private body in question and that the personnel tasked with processing/receiving requests for information MUST assist you complete the form if you require assistance. Certain private bodies will accept electronic submissions of forms.

In requesting information from a private body the form must indicate what specific interest or right the information which is requested will assist you in asserting.

Please also note that if you earn below R14 712 a year or you and your partners combined income is less than R27 192 per year, you will not have to pay a request fee with your application.

You will also not have to pay a request fee if your request for information is a request for your personal information.

In all other instances a fee of R50.00 needs to accompany your request.

Further information on the submission of requests can be found in the frontline training manual, the section 10 guide and the legislation also available on this site.

Research and Publications

Compliance for Public Bodies

An Information Officer’s Understanding of PAIA

The Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 must be seen against the backdrop of its origin. It’s an origin which all South African’s share, a painful past that has shaped the freedom and rights that we relish today. It is a well known fact that pre 94’, South Africa was ruled by a sovereign regime whose only check and balance was itself, policies and laws had been enacted to shield the elitist of that time and to control the majority and the marginalised. The way in which information was disseminated to the public was subject to a lot of control. The media was also muzzled and controlled to always push and promote the regime’s agenda. Enter the 94’ elections and taking centre stage thereafter is the 96’ Constitution which is revered around the world as a model constitution to all democratic states.

South Africa can be seen as setting the bar very high having adopted a Constitution which is generally accepted as the best around the world and then going further and giving effect to one of the most important human rights which is found in section 32 of the Constitution ,the right to access information. This right which is effectively seen to be the “Olympic Torch” of our Constitution states:

Section 32(1)(a) : “provides that everyone has a right of access to any information held by the state and any information held by another person that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights.”

The section goes on further to provide that in Section 32(2):

Section 32(2): “National legislation must be enacted to give effect to this right, and may provide for reasonable measures to alleviate the administrative and financial burden on the state.”

The Promotion of Access to Information Act, No. 2 of 2000 (hereinafter referred to as “PAIA” or “the Act”) was enacted and enjoys the status of national legislation and gives effect to the constitutional right of access to information. PAIA was promulgated in 2000, and came into operation on 9 March 2001.

As a general rule this means that all people in South Africa including non nationals can request information from public bodies and from private bodies. However, information from private bodies or business can only be obtained if it is needed to protect other rights.

After the Constitution was certified, the PAIA was passed. Because the PAIA legislation gives effect to a constitutional right, it is regarded as a law of superior status and applies throughout the country to all sectors. This means that laws which contradict the provisions of the legislation have to be brought in line with it so that the right of every person to access information is not limited without just cause.

Protection of personal Info bill

Submission on the Protection State Information Bill

Compliance with Section 51

Lodging PAIA Requests

Request forms A, B and C

Research and Publications

Compliance for Public Bodies

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