The City of Cape Town will be hosting an information sharing event to raise awareness of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) and is inviting members of the public to attend the event on Tuesday 26 March 2019 to learn about how this act is applicable to them. The PAIA provides everyone with a statutory right of access to information in respect of records held by the State.

The City invites residents to join its access to information team at the Cape Town Civic Centre on Tuesday 26 March 2019 where officials from the City’s Legal Services Department will be available to share information about the Act. This initiative forms part of the City’s campaign to make residents aware of the PAIA and that they can apply to the City for access to information.

PAIA came into operation to give effect to Section 32 of the Constitution which confirms the public’s right of access to information held by the State, with the exception of records held by the Cabinet, Courts and by members of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures. Therefore, information in the City’s possession is subject to PAIA.

One of the objects of the Act is to establish voluntary and mandatory mechanisms or procedures to enable people to obtain information swiftly, inexpensively and effortlessly.

‘The City is a proud and responsible custodian of all our information records. We understand the importance of ensuring effective facilitation and processing of requests for access of information and will continue striving to promote transparency, accountability and effective governance on all fronts. That said, all requests for information must be assessed to determine whether it is in the public’s interest to make such information available. Officials dealing with these requests thus have a huge responsibility to ensure that the City is adhering to the PAIA, but also that it does so in a responsible manner.

‘We recognise that the success of PAIA is a shared responsibility by all City and other State employees. Officials from the City’s access to information team will therefore be available to assist residents with enquiries next week on Tuesday 26 March 2019 at the Cape Town Civic Centre.

‘It is important that residents are aware of their rights of access to information and the process that they must follow to exercise this right,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Sharon Cottle.

The City’s Access to Information Unit has a dedicated walk-in public office, namely the Access to City Records Office in the Cape Town Civic Centre where the unit assists members of the public with the entire PAIA process that relates to the City. This includes guidance on completing and submitting PAIA forms, liaising with the relevant City line departments for the provision of records as well as decisions on outcomes of PAIA applications. An online service to submit requests as well as more information is also available via the City’s website at http://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Access-information/Request-access-to-information

Examples of the sort of the sort of information requested could include documents, tapes, video recordings, computer files, notes or emails, among others.

PAIA applies to records of public and private bodies regardless of when they came into existence. A record means any recorded information regardless of form or medium which is in possession or under the control of the public body, whether or not created by that public body. PAIA also applies to records held by independent contractors engaged by the Public Body.

In terms of PAIA, a requester must be given access to records of a public body provided that he/she complies with all the procedural requirements and provided that access is not refused in terms of any of the grounds of refusal contained in Chapter 4 of the Act.

The underlying consideration of the Act is always that if the public interest clearly outweighs the harm contemplated on the ground of refusal then access to the information must be granted.

Source: City Of Cape Town