Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000

Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000
Act to give effect to the constitutional right of access to any information held by the State and any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
Citation Act No. 2 of 2000
Territorial extent Republic of South Africa
Enacted by Parliament of South Africa
Date assented to 2 February 2000
Date commenced 9 March 2001
Keywords
Freedom of information
Status: In force

The Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (or PAIA; Act No. 2 of 2000) is a freedom of information law in South Africa. It gives effect to the constitutional right of access to any information held by the State, and any information held by private bodies that is required for the exercise and protection of any rights.

The Act is enforced by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

Role of Information Officers

In terms of PAIA, information officers have a critical role of ensuring the implementation of the Act, by:

Compliance

Every private body must publish a simple manual in line with Section 51 of the Act. The manual assists persons who wish to request access to information by providing them with the procedures involved, as prescribed by the Act.

Much of the South African public and private sectors have yet to comply with this legislation.

Reasons for Non-Compliance

In terms of public bodies, various concerns have been cited as reasons for non-compliance, such as:

Thus, in light of these challenges, which are major factors hampering proper implementation of a successful access to information regime in South Africa, the cross-sectoral National Information Officers Forum was established on 20 September 2006.

Exemption from Compliance by Private Bodies

On 26 November 2015, the SAHRC received notice from the office of the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services confirming that certain private bodies (those that are not private companies in terms of the Companies Act as well as those that are private companies, but are in specific sectors, have a certain amount of employees and turn over a specific amount in each financial year) would be further exempted from compiling and submitting the manual contemplated in section 51 for a period of five years starting from 1 January 2016.

The exemption was gazetted in Government Gazette No. 39504 (GN 1222) on 11 December 2015.

Despite the exemption in place, private bodies are still encouraged to comply with the Act.

Private bodies that are not exempted must still ensure their manuals have been compiled and lodged with the SAHRC.

National Information Officers Forum

Tha National Information officers Forum (NIOF) is an annual convention that is hosted in partnership with the Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) and marks the International Right to Know Day held in September of each year.

The motivation behind the conference is to provide a platform on which information officers (and their appointed delegates) and PAIA implementers can interact with experts on the matter, share challenges and experiences of implementation, and share best-practice tools.

The form has been used a means to:[1]

Coordination Committee

Elected by the NOIF, the Coordination Committee is composed of deputy information officers from the various tiers of South African government, as well as representatives from civil society, and is tasked with the activity-oversight of the NOIF, as well as the establishment of forums on a provincial level.

Additionally, the committee must represent the interests of deputy information officers and inform of interventions to accelerate the awareness and implementation of the Act through the secretariat (the SAHRC).

Resources for Private Bodies

In response to the issue of non-compliance, measures have been taken in the private sector to assist private bodies. Representatives of private bodies have access to web-based solutions that compile fully compliant manuals on their behalf in order to avoid confusion regarding the format and content.

One such resource is PaiaBuilder.com. Google searches may reveal comparative services.

References

  1. ↑ "Understanding PAIA: The National Information Officers Forum and CC".

External links

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