The Information Regulator, under the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, will take over the regulatory mandate functions relating to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) 2000 from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) effective from Wednesday.

This is in line with a proclamation by President Cyril Ramaphosa of sections 110 and 114(4) of Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) 2013 which allows for an amendment of PAIA and the transfer of certain functions from the SAHRC to the Information Regulator.

PAIA encourages transparency and openness and allows for the access to information.

According to the amended PAIA, private funding for political parties and independent candidates must be recorded and made available to the public.

PAIA MANUALS

All bodies currently exempt from developing PAIA manuals now have until December 31 to compile their manuals for availability in their place of business or through their websites from January 1, 2022.

The manual must now cover matters relating to the processing of personal information in terms of POPIA.

Public and private bodies do not have to submit their PAIA manual to the Regulator from June 30.

“Although the notice has not been gazetted yet, a signed copy of the notice may be accessed from the Regulator’s website. In terms of sec 51(1) of PAIA, as amended, all previously developed PAIA manuals of both public and private bodies must be updated to include provisions relating to the processing of personal information in terms of POPIA.

In order to simplify the compilation process of PAIA Manuals in terms of section 14 and 51 of PAIA, the Regulator will publish PAIA manual templates shortly as a guide,” the department said.