Is your business manual ready?
- Wenzel Botha
The Promotion of Access to Information Act (the Act/PAIA) No 2/2000 came into effect on 9 March, 2001, and fully operational on 15 February, 2002. This legislation was in-acted as a direct response to Sec 32 (2) (a) of the Constitution of South Africa – the right of access to information – which requires that the Government implements laws in an effort to make information pertaining to public and private bodies more accessible to all.
The Act seeks to advance a culture of transparency and accountability in both public and private bodies. The Act requires all public and private bodies to compile manuals containing certain information regarding their business. Readers are referred to the official website of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) at where the act and its regulation plus comprehensive step by step guideline template manuals can be found. Readers are encouraged to direct queries regarding the Act to the SAHRC at email address All private bodies (A “private body” is defined by the Act as natural persons or partnerships or any former or existing jurisdic person that has carried on any trade, business or profession) must comply with the following provisions with the manuals before or on 31 August 2003:
Submit the manual to the South African Human Rights Commission, Private Bag 2700, Houghton 2041 Submit the manual to the Controlling Body of which the private body is a member Submit the manual to the Government Printers for publication in the Government Gazette The Head of a private body must make the manual available for public inspection during office hours and upon request .
Place the manual on a website (if available) The Government do not want this Act seen as another senseless burden upon business. “It should rather be seen as a further business opportunity and marketing tool which can be used to promote business.”