Promotion of Access to Information Act
| Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 | |
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| 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).
In terms of PAIA, information officers have a critical role of ensuring the implementation of the Act, by:
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.
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.
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 number 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.
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