Did you receive an email from the Information Regulator with the title “Important Notice: Non-Compliance with PAIA Forms”? Don’t panic; it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are specifically non-compliant, and there are simple actions you can take to check whether you comply and, if not, to bring yourself into compliance.
Important Notice: Non-Compliance with PAIA Forms
On 31 August, it appears that the Information Regulator sent an email to virtually every organisation registered with them (approximately 105,000 organisations) with the title “Important Notice: Non-Compliance with PAIA Forms”. On first reading, I got a fright. It was addressed personally to me (using my full name), mentioned my organisation, and seemed to suggest that I was non-compliant. The word notice in the title suggested it was a PAIA enforcement notice.
It is a generic email not aimed specifically at you.
Upon reading the email and its attachment carefully, I realised that this was a generic communication to all bodies in South Africa and was not specifically aimed at me.
What is this notice about?
Essentially, the regulator wants you to inform people to use the new, correct PAIA Request Form 2, rather than the old one, when they request access to information from your organisation. You can see how we do it at Michalsons.
The regulator is frustrated because they have asked this many times.
What should you do about the Important Notice: Non-Compliance with PAIA Forms?
- Inform people about the correct form by checking your PAIA manual to ensure you refer to the new form.
- Have an up-to-date PAIA Manual by asking Michalsons to review or draft a PAIA Manual for you.
- Link to the right form by checking your website to see if there are any links to the old form.
- Don’t use the old form by searching your system to remove any electronic copies of the old form, and search your offices to check there are no physical copies of the old form.
