Section 32 of the Constitution states 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 Promotion of Access to Information Act, No. 2 of 2000 (PAIA) was enacted to give effect to the constitutional right of access to information and governs how one would access such information. All organisations must publish a PAIA manual, which is a document that sets out the process one must follow to request and access information held by the organisation. It must also set out what categories and type of information is held with that entity.

As at 30 June 2021 the Information Regulator controls the regulatory functions relating to PAIA.

The Information Regulator has published a PAIA manual template specifying certain content to be contained in a PAIA manual. The manual must contain the following key information amongst others:

• Categories and types of personal information and records collected by the organisation.
• Processing of personal information and the purpose for such processing.
• Description of the categories of data subjects.
• Recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal information may be supplied.
• Planned trans-border flow of personal information.
• General description of information security measures implemented to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information to be processed.

According to POPIA Regulations and the Information Regulator’s Guidelines, it is the responsibility of the Information Officer to develop and make available the entity’s PAIA manual.

It is not a requirement that the manual be submitted to the Information Regulator.

Contact details and registration information

The online portal for the registration of information officers is still unavailable. Manually completed application forms can be submitted to Registration.IO@inforegulator.org.za

Email POPIACompliance@inforegulator.org.za for POPIA compliance matters such as:

• Applications for prior authorisations;
• Applications for exemption;
• Applications for the processing of information of children;
• Applications for the processing of special information;
• Applications for codes of conduct; and
• Security compromise notices (data breaches).

Email PAIACompliance@inforegulator.org.za for:

• Requests for assessment of non-compliance with PAIA.
• Submission of PAIA annual report by public and private entities.
• Requests for access to the records of the Information Regulator.

 General Emails

General enquiries should be sent to enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

• If your PAIA request is denied, or there is no response from a public or private body for access to records, a complaint can be lodged with PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• If you feel that your personal information has been violated, a complaint can be lodged at POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

Members and readers should take note that the PAIA deadline is 31 December 2021. All entities, including sole proprietors will be required to have a PAIA manual.

Click here to download PAIA manual template

Click here to download information officer’s manual registration form

Aneesa Khan | Finance Manager