cover image: Ms A Van der Walt Director-General Department of Justice and Constitutional Development

20.500.12592/xt27dt

Ms A Van der Walt Director-General Department of Justice and Constitutional Development

17 May 2021

At the outset, we note that the cost of printed copies and photocopies of hard-copy documents for the purposes of PAIA and the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) is exorbitantly high, and if passed will serve as a barrier to access to information for many people. [...] The purpose of the Guide is to explain how to use the PAIA and to thereby empower people to exercise their constitutional right of access to information. [...] The second is in Regulation 8(3)(b), where the words indicated by strikethrough below appear to be unnecessary: “…Form 3 of Annexure A to the Regulations, inform the requester to pay as a deposit, a portion of the access fee to the record fee, set out in Annexure B to the Regulations…” CHAPTER 4: COMPLAINTS TO INFORMATION REGULATOR Procedure regarding investigation of complaints – Regulation 11 20. [...] Regulation 11(5)(b): We submit that a timeframe be prescribed for the Information Regulator to inform the complainant, the information officer concerned and any other party to the matter of the results of the investigation. [...] [END] Ms A Van der Walt Director-General Department of Justice and Constitutional Development By email: alvanderwalt@justice.gov.za COMMENTS BY THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION NETWORK ON THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION, 2020, PUBLISHED FOR COMMENT ON 23 APRIL 2021 CHAPTER 2: AVAILABILITY OF THE GUIDE CHAPTER 3: ACCESS TO INFORMATION CHAPTER 4: COMPLAINTS TO IN.

Authors

Zahra Omar

Pages
6
Published in
South Africa