Do you want to lodge a PAIA complaint or POPIA complaint with the Information Regulator in South Africa? Has someone failed to give you access to information or infringed on your privacy? In this article, we’ll help you know how to lodge a complaint with the regulator. This article is for requesters or data subjects – the person to whom the information relates. We are not the regulator so you cannot complain to us and we cannot action a complaint.

But for a fee we can lay the complaint with the regulator for you and advise you on it. There are also other ways in which we help data subjects.

The Information Regulator will take action on your behalf

Any person can lodge a complaint to the Regulator, but it must be in writing and done in the prescribed manner on the Information Regulators portal. You must register a user profile on their eService Portal to submit a complaint.

Note that this procedure is not for responsible parties seeking advice on being more efficient in resolving data protection complaints. It is also not for responsible parties wanting to understand the POPIA rules of procedure for complaints.

When can I file a POPIA complaint with the regulator

Before submitting a complaint, try to sort out the issue with the relevant organisation first. If that is not successful, then you can lodge a POPIA complaint if an organisation or person:

  1. has violated or infringed your privacy in terms of POPIA, or
  2. failed to protect your personal information (like your name and telephone number).

How can I file a POPIA compliant with the regulator?

You can file your complaint on the Information Regulator’s eService portal. You must be registered and logged in to the portal to submit and track your complaint. Then visit the POPIA complaints page to answer the provided questions, and the portal will direct you to a page to submit your supporting documents for your complaint. Once you have submitted your complaint, you can track its status using the My POPIA complaints option. By submitting your general POPIA complaint, you help protect your right to privacy and help the Information Regulator hold responsible parties accountable. This strengthens compliance across South Africa.

How can I file a Direct Marketing complaint?

Direct marketing complaints focus specifically on the misuse of your contact details for marketing purposes. You can file your direct marketing complaint online. To access the direct marketing complaints portal, you must be registered with and logged in to the Information Regulator’s portal.

How to lodge a PAIA complaint in South Africa

You can lodge a PAIA complaint if the information officer of a body or organisation:

  1. does not respond to your access to information request, or
  2. denies your request, and you have exhausted the internal appeal procedure against the decision.

You can file your complaint on the Information Regulator’s eService portal. You must be registered and logged in to the portal to submit and track your complaint. Then visit the PAIA complaints page. 

The regulator recently added the PAIA complaint functionality to its portal.

What action will the regulator take after receiving your complaint?

The regulator can take various actions.

  1. Investigate the complaint in the prescribed procedure.
  2. Refer the complaint to the Enforcement Committee.
  3. Decide to take no action if the case requires no further action.

The regulator must, as soon as reasonably possible after receipt of a complaint, advise the complainant and the information officer of the organisation to whom the complaint relates what course of action the regulator will take.

Other actions you can take

You can take various other actions if your information rights are infringed.