Extension of PAIA manual exemption

As per Government Notice No. 34914, the Department of Justice has extended an exemption which means that, generally, a company will not be required to submit an information manual in terms of section 51 of PAIA (including, according to the SAHRC, non-governmental organisations).

However, if a private entity is not a private company as defined in section 1 of the Companies Act, 2008 or operating in a certain sector with over 50 members/with a specified turnover, such an entity will have to submit their manual. To see what types of private entities the exemption has not be granted to, you can review the Government Notice here: GN 3419.

The delay in the publication of this extension, and the uncertainty which persists for many private entities in relation to PAIA, has meant that ODAC will be developing a web page for information officers of both public and private bodies to provide them with a centralised source of information on how they can ensure PAIA compliance in their organisations. The page is aptly called “Information Officers” and will be under continuing development over the next few months.