The information regulator has consistently said that POPIA will not commence until the information regulator is fully operational. The information regulator has made progress but it has been slow. The information regulator initially said that they were aiming for a POPIA deadline of 1 December 2018.

On 5 July 2019, the information regulator briefed the Justice and Correctional Services Committee of the Parliament of South Africa on their 2019/2020 annual performance plans and budgets. Adv Pansy Tlakula said that their efforts to establish the information regulator have been very difficult. The information regulator gave the committee an update on their strategic outcome orientated goals and strategic objectives. In their presentation, they set out their performance indicators and annual and quarterly targets for the financial year ending February 2020. The information regulator still has much work to do in order to be operational – the prerequisite for the POPIA deadline.

  • They need to ensure that people are aware of and understand their rights with regard to the protection of personal information by implementing a stakeholder engagement strategy and plan.
  • They need to create a conducive environment that promotes the protection of personal information by developing an appropriate research strategy and plan.
  • They need to create a compliant environment that fosters the protection of personal formation and the promotion of access to information by:
    • publishing Guidelines for Codes of Conduct,
    • publishing Guidelines for the registration of Information Officers,
    • implementing a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) to manage the processes for the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to handover the regulation of access to information (PAIA) to the information regulator.
  • They need to be able to protect personal information by resolving complaints by having a complaint management process, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and a manual.
  • They need to be an optimal functioning independent information regulator by establishing the administration necessary to deliver on their mandate by:
    • completing the second phase of their organisational structure,
    • approving a recruitment policy and a delegation of authority framework,
    • drafting an employment equity policy, and
    • drafting various finance policies they have identified.

The information regulator plans to complete this work by the end of February 2020, which we think is optimistic. Achieving all of these things is going to take the information regulator some time. Considering the number of people who currently work for the information regulator and the slow pace at which they have been becoming operational it is difficult to see that they will complete this work before the end of May 2020, which then means that the POPIA commencement date would be about 1 June 2020 with the POPIA deadline then being about 1 June 2021.