Information, data and records policies · 02
PAIA manual and access to information procedure
The public document section 51 of PAIA requires, plus the internal procedure that makes it answerable.
The public document section 51 of PAIA requires, plus the internal procedure that makes it answerable.
The manual must give the particulars of the body and its information officer, a description of the records held by subject and category, the records available without a request, the request procedure and forms, the fees, and the remedies available to a requester. Behind it, an internal procedure: who receives a request, the decision-maker, the statutory time limits, third-party notification, and the form of the decision with reasons.
The section 51 manual is the cheapest credibility signal available: it is public, it is compulsory, and its absence is the first thing a complainant points at. Keep it current: a manual naming an information officer who left is worse than none, because it proves the obligation was known and then abandoned.
The law it sits under
What governs this instrument.
Section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 requires the head of a private body to compile a manual, and section 52 deals with records made automatically available. The prescribed fees are set by the PAIA Regulations: a request fee of R140.00, R2.00 an A4 page for copies, and search and preparation at R145.00 an hour excluding the first hour, capped at R435.00.
Related pages, tools and documents
Where this instrument sits in the wider set, and the engagement that produces it.
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