Promotion of Access to Information Act
Promotion of Access to Information Act
2001/023563/07
immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd
MANUAL in terms of Section 51 of
The Promotion of Access to Information Act 2/2000 (the “ACT”)
INDEX
1. Introduction
3. The ACT
4. Purpose of the Manual
5. South African Human Rights Commission Guide
10. Grounds for refusal of access to information
11. Remedies available in the event of the refusal of request for information
12. Decision
1. INTRODUCTION
immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd specialises in offering Web and Mobile Application Design and Development services.
In addition to being specialists in the media industry, we optimise online synergies which has gained us national recognition for innovation and talent. We are one of the few companies in KZN to offer a true multi-disciplinary approach to web development & technology challenges.
immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd supports the constitutional right of access to information and we are committed to providing you access to our records in accordance with the provisions of the Act, the confidentiality we owe third parties, and the principles of South African law.
2. COMPANY CONTACT DETAILS
Information Officer: Mr. Bevan Grant Andriés
Postal Address: P.O. Box 25080, Gateway, 4319
Street Address: Level 3 The Quarterdeck, 69 Richefond Circle, Ridgeside Office Park, Umhlanga, 4320
Telephone Number: 031 566 8000
Fax Number: 086 743 2281
Email: info@eastcoast.co.za
Website: www.immedia.co.za
3. THE ACT
The Promotion of Access to Information Act, No 2 of 2000 (“The Act”) was enacted on 3 February 2000, giving effect to the right of access to any information held by Government, as well as any information held by another person who is required for the exercising or protection of any rights. This right is entrenched in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of South Africa. Where a request is made in terms of The Act, the body to which the request is made is not obliged to release the information, except where The Act expressly provides that the information may or must be released. The Act sets out the requisite procedural issues attached to such request.
4. PURPOSE OF THE MANUAL
In order to promote effective governance of private bodies, it is necessary to ensure that everyone is empowered and educated to understand their rights in terms of The Act in order for them to exercise their rights in relation to public and private bodies.
Section 9 of The Act, however, recognizes that such right to access to information cannot be unlimited and should be subject to justifiable limitations, including, but not limited to:
·Limitations aimed at the reasonable protection of privacy;
·Commercial confidentiality; and
·Effective, efficient and good governance
And in a manner that balances that right with any other rights, including such rights contained in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.
Wherever reference is made to “Private Body” in this manual, it will refer to @BusinessName and all its entities for whom this manual is drafted.
5. SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION GUIDE
The South African Human Rights Commission had compiled the guide contemplated in Section 10 of The Act. It contains such information as may reasonably be required by a person who wishes to exercise any right contemplated in The Act. The Guide is available for inspection, inter alia at 29 Princess of Wales Terrace, cnr York and St Andrews Street. Any enquiries regarding this guide should be directed to:
(RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION DEPARTMENT)
Private Bag X2700, HOUGHTON, 2041
Telephone Number: (011) 484-8300
Facsimile Number: (011) 484-1360
Website: www.sahrc.org.za;
PAIA@sahrc.org.za
6. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION
1 No 61 of 1973 Companies Act
2 No 98 of 1978 Copyright Act
3 No 55 of 1998 Employment Equity Act
4 No 95 of 1967 Income Tax Act
5 No 66 of 1995 Labour Relations Act
6 No 89 of 1991 Value Added Tax Act
7 No 108 of 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
8 No 75 of 1997 Basic Conditions of Employment Act
9 No 53 of 2003 Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act
10 No 25 of 2002 Electronic Communications and Transactions Act
11 No 2 of 2000 Promotion of Access of Information Act
12 No 30 of 1996 Unemployment Insurance Act
13 No 130 of 1993 Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act
14 No 9 of 1997 Skills Development Act
15 No 9 of 1999 Skills Development Levy Act
16 No 4 of 2013 Protection of Personal Information Act
7. SCHEDULE OF RECORDS
The immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd maintains records on the following categories and subject matters. However, please note that recording a category or subject matter in this Manual does not imply that a request for access to such records would be honoured. All requests for access will be evaluated on a case by case basis in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
7.1 Internal Records
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Memorandum and Articles of Association
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Financial records
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Operational records
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Intellectual property
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Marketing records
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Internal correspondence
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Product records
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Statutory records
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Internal policies and procedures
7.2 Personnel records
“Personnel” refers to any person who works for or provides services to or on behalf of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd and receives or is entitled to receive any remuneration and any other person who assists in carrying out or conducting the business of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd. This includes, without limitation, directors, executive directors, non-executive directors, all permanent, temporary and part-time staff as well as contract workers.
Personnel records include the following:
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Any personal records provided to the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd by their personnel;
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Any records a third party has provided to the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd about any of their personnel;
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Conditions of employment and other personnel-related contractual and quasi-legal records;
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Internal evaluation records; and
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Other internal records and correspondence.
7.3 Customer records
Please be aware that the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd is very concerned about protecting the confidential information of its customers. Please motivate any request for customer information very carefully, having regard to Sections 63 to 67 of the Act. Customer information includes the following:
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Any records a customer has provided to the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd or a third party acting for or on behalf of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd;
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Contractual information;
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Customer needs assessments;
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Personal records of customers;
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Credit information and other research conducted in respect of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd about customers;
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Confidential, privileged, contractual and quasi-legal records of customers;
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Customer evaluation records;
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Customer profiling;
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Performance research conducted on behalf of customers or about customers;
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Any records a third party has provided to the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd either directly or indirectly; and
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Records generated by or within the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd pertaining to customers, including transactional records.
7.4 Technical records
Technical records generated by, or within the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd pertaining to customers.
Other Parties:
Records are kept in respect of other parties, including without limitation contractors, suppliers, joint ventures, service providers and general market conditions. In addition, such other parties may possess records, which can be said to belong to the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd. The following records fall under this category:
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Personnel, customer or the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd records which are held by another party as opposed to being held by the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd; and
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Records held by the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd pertaining to other parties, including financial records, correspondence, contractual records, electronic mail, logs, cached information, records provided by the other party, and records third parties have provided about the contractors/suppliers or customer.
7.5 Other Records
Further records are held including:
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Information relating to the immedia ecosystem’s own commercial activities; and
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Research carried out on behalf of a client by the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd, or commissioned from a third party for a customer;
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Research information belonging to the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd, whether carried out itself or commissioned from a third party.
8.REQUEST PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING INFORMATION
Access to records held by the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd
Records held by the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd may be accessed by request only once the prerequisites for access have been met.
The requester must fulfil the prerequisites for access in terms of The Act, including the payment of a requested access fee.
The requester must comply with all the procedural requirements contained in The Act relating to the request for access to a record.
The requester must complete the prescribed Form C in Appendix 1 and submit same as well as payment of a request fee and a deposit, if applicable, to the Information Officer at the postal or physical address, fax number or electronic mail address as stated herein.
The prescribed form must be filled in with enough particulars to at least enable the Information Officer to identify –
· The record or records requested;
· The identity of the requester,
· Which form of access is required, if the request is granted;
· The postal address or fax number or email address of the requester.
The requester must state that he/she requires the information in order to exercise or protect a right, and clearly state what the nature of the right to be exercised or protected is. In addition, the requester must clearly specify why the record is necessary to exercise or protect such a right.
The immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd will process the request within 30 days, unless the requester has stated a special reason that would satisfy the Information Officer that circumstances dictate that the above time periods are not complied with.
The requester shall be informed whether access has been granted or denied. If, in addition, the requester requires the reason for the decision in any other manner, he / she must state the manner and the particulars so required.
If a request is made on behalf of another person, then the requester must submit proof of the capacity in which the requesters making the request, to the reasonable satisfaction of the Information Officer.
If an individual is unable to complete the prescribed form because of illiteracy or disability, such a person may make the request orally.
The requester must pay the prescribed fee before any further processing can take place.
9. PRESCRIBED FEES
The Act provides for two types of fees, namely:
- A request fee, which will be a standard fee; and
- An access fee, which must be calculated by taking into account reproduction costs, search and preparation time and cost, as well as postal costs.
When the Information Officer receives the request, such Officer shall by notice require the requester, other than a personal requester, to pay the prescribed request fee (if any), before any further processing of the request.
If the search for the record has been made in the preparation of the record for disclosure, including arrangements to make it available in the requested form, and it requires more than the hours prescribed in the regulation for this purpose, the Information Officer shall notify the requester to pay as a deposit the prescribed portion of the access fee which would be payable if the request is granted.
The Information Officer shall withhold a record until the requester has paid the Fees as indicated in Appendix 2.
A requester, whose request for access to a record has been granted, must pay an access fee for reproduction and for search and preparation, and for any time reasonably required in excess of the prescribed hours to search for and prepare the record for disclosure, including making arrangements to make it available in the requested form.
10. GROUNDS FOR REFUSAL OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION
The main grounds for the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd to refuse a request for information relates to the:
· Mandatory protection of the privacy of a third party that is a natural person that would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information of that natural person;
· Mandatory protection of the commercial information of a third party, if the record contains:
- Trade secrets of that third party;
- Financial, commercial, scientific or technical information, disclosure of which could likely cause harm to the financial or commercial interests of that third party;
- Information disclosed in confidence by a third party to the Private Body, if the disclosure could put that third party at a disadvantage in negotiations or commercial competition
Mandatory protection of confidential information of third parties if it is protected in terms of any agreement;
Mandatory protection of confidential information of the protection of property;
Mandatory protection of records that would be regarded as privileged in legal proceedings;
The commercial activities of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd, which may include:
·Trade secrets of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd;
·Financial, commercial, scientific or technical information, disclosure which could likely cause harm to the financial or commercial interest of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd;
·Information which, if disclosed could put the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd at a disadvantage in negotiations or commercial competition;
·A computer program, owned by the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd and protected by copyright.
The research information of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd or a third party, if its disclosure would reveal the identity or the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd, the researcher or the subject matter of the research and would place the research at a serious disadvantage;
Requests for information that are clearly frivolous or vexatious, or which would involve an unreasonable diversion of resources shall be refused.
11. REMEDIES AVAILABLE IN THE EVENT OF REFUSAL OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Internal remedies
The immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd does not have an internal appeal procedure. As such, the decision made by the Information Officer is final, and requesters will have to exercise such external remedies at their disposal if the request for information is refused, and the requester is not satisfied with the answer supplied by the Information Officer.
External remedies
A requester who is dissatisfied with an information officer’s refusal to disclose information, may within 30 days of notification of the decision, apply to a Court for relief.
Likewise, a third party dissatisfied with an Information Officer’s decision to grant a request for information, may within 30 days of notification of the decision, apply to a Court for relief. A Court for relief, is a Court of Law as referred to in The Act or any other Court of similar status.
12. DECISION
The immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd will within 30 days of receipt of the request, decide whether to grant or decline the request and give notice with reasons (if required) to that effect.
The 30 day period within which the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd has to decide whether to grant or refuse the request, may be extended for further period of not more than thirty days if the request is for a large amount of information, or the request requires a search for information held at another office of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd and the information cannot reasonably be obtained within the original 30 day period. The immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd will notify the requester in writing should an extension be sought.
APPENDIX - 1
PRESCRIBED FORM TO BE COMPLETED BY A REQUESTER
APPENDIX - 2
REPRODUCTION FEES
Where the requested document appears in the appendix 1, i.e. the Private Body has voluntarily provided the Minister with a list of categories of records that will automatically be made available to any person requesting access thereto, the only charge that may be levied for obtaining such records, shall be a fee for reproduction of the record in question.
THE APPLICABLE FEES FOR REPRODUCTION AS REFERED TO ABOVE ARE:
* For every photocopy of an A4-size page or part thereof R1 - 10
* For every printed copy of an A4-size page or part thereof
held on a computer or in electronic machine readable form R0 - 75
* For a copy in a computer-readable form on:
- A stiffy disc R7 - 50
- Compact disc R70 - 00
* A transcription of visual images, for an A4-size page or
part thereof R40 - 00
* For a copy of visual images R60 - 00
* A transcription of an audio record, for an A4-size page
or part thereof R20 - 00
* For a copy of an audio record R30 - 00
Request fees:
Where a requester submits a request for access to information held by a Private Body or a person other than the requester him - / herself, a request fee in the amount of R50-00 is payable up-front before the the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd will further process the request received.
THE APPLICABLE FEES FOR ACCESS
An access fee is payable in all instances where a request for access to information is granted, except in those instances where payment of the access fee is specifically excluded in terms of an exclusion as determined by the Minister in terms of Section 54 (8) of The Act.
The access fees that will be payable are:
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For every photocopy of an A4-size page or part thereof R1 - 10
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For every printed copy of an A4-size page or part thereof
held on a computer or in electronic or machine readable form R0 – 75
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For a copy in computer-readable form on:
- Stiffy disc R7 – 50
- Compact disc R70 – 00
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A transcription of visual images, for an A4-size page
or part thereof R40 - 00
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For a copy of visual images R60 - 00
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A transcription of an audio record, for an A4-size page or part
thereof R20 - 00
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For a copy of an audio record R20 - 00
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To search for a record that must be disclosed (per hour or
part of an hour reasonably required for such search) R30 - 00
* Where a copy of a record has to be posted the actual postal fee is payable.
Deposits:
Where the the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd receives a request for access to information on a person other than the requester him- / herself and the Information Officer upon receipt of the request is of the opinion that the preparation of the required record of disclosure will take more than 6 (six) hours, a deposit is payable by the requester.
The amount of the deposit is equal to one third of the amount of the applicable access fee.
Note: In terms of Regulation 8, Value Added Tax (VAT) must be added to all fees prescribed in terms of the Regulations.
AVAILABILITY OF THE MANUAL
The manual of the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd is available at the premises of the Private body as well as on the website of the the immedia Studio (Pty) Ltd.
DATE OF COMPILATION: 14/12/2015
DATE OF REVISION: 01/06/2021