NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NUMBER: 150
DATE FOR PUBLICATION: 10 FEBRUARY 2011
DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: 8 SEPTEMBER 2011
MS S C MOTAU (DA) TO ASK THE MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE
MONITORING AND EVALUATION AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION:
What (a) statutory provisions, (b) regulations, (c) policy instruments and
(d) practices govern the (i) classification, (ii) protection against the
release or access, (iii) protection for other purposes such as preservation
and (iv) release upon request for access of (aa) documented information and
(bb) undocumented information held by (aaa) the Presidency or (bbb) any
ather entities who receive budgetary transfers from the Presidency?
NW162E
REPLY:
Section 32 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,
1996 provides that âeveryone has the right of access to any information
held by the stateâ¦..â. Section 32(2) of the Constitution provides that
ânational legislation must be enacted to give effect to this rightâ¦â.The
Promotion of Access to information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) was enacted to give
effect, amongst others, to the right of access to information. PAIA applies
to a record as defined in section 1. PAIA also sets out the procedure that
must be followed by the requester of the information held by the public
body. Chapter 4 of PAIA sets out the grounds for refusal of access to
records by a public body. The Presidency and other entities who receive
budgetary transfers from the Presidency are public bodies and operate
within the confines of the Constitution and PAIA.
END