Section Summary: The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA)
- South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) regulates PAIA
- PAIA enacted to give effect to the constitutional right of access to information.
- PAIA Objectives
- Promote transparency, accountability and effective governance
- Assist members of the public to effectively scrutinize and participate in decision making
- Promotes a human rights culture and social justice
- Encourage openness
- Establish voluntary and mandatory mechanisms
- Public bodies to publish manuals in at least three official languages
- Manual Needs to have Minimum Information both Public and Private
- Must be accessible on the website and premises
- Private entities have compliance thresholds (annual turnover per sector and more than 50 employees)
- How to make a PAIA request [ Public (Form A – Section 18) and Private (Form C – Section 53)]
- PAIA stipulates grounds whilst balancing the right to access information with other rights
- Outlines maximum costs in accessing records
- Outlines remedies when PAIA request declined by Information Officer
- Deny access to a record
- Extend the time to respond to a request
- Charge a request fee or an access fee
- Provide access to a record in wrong form than originally requested.
- Outlines risks of non-compliance
- Giving information to someone that you should not be giving information to and facing damages claims as a result
- Opposing applications for access in court.
- Litigation
- Penalties non-compliance outlined by section 90 of PAIA
- a fine, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.
- The Information Regulator will investigate complaints relating to non-compliance with POPIA and PAIA.
- When all section 32 reports, section 14 manuals and section 51 manuals transfer to the Information Regulator