PAIA infographic
A new report released by South Africa’s Access to Information Network notes a concerning level of non-compliance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
AmaBhungane is a member of the network, which includes eight civil society organisations.
The report, which compiles members’s experiences using PAIA during the twelve months to July 2016, notes that only 46% of requests to public bodies were partly or fully complied with.
For private bodies, the figure was 33%.
PAIA is a powerful tool in the hands of investigative journalists, and the media in general.
AmaBhungane has used the law vigorously to build experience and precedent.
Our past successes have included gaining access to some 12 000 pages of information on the upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s private estate at Nkandla.
However, the continued low levels of compliance means that realising this right is often a drawn-out process, equally often enforced only through litigation.
AmaBhungane’s advocacy mandate is to help secure the information rights investigative journalists need to do their work.
Our practice of investigative journalism places us well to identify legislative, policy and practical threats to the information flows that are the lifeblood of our field.
- The network’s full report and statement are available here.
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