Posts

AmaBhungane: Steinhoff’s dogged battle to keep its secrets

By Caroline JamesFirst published on Daily Maverick We all know the story of Steinhoff and Marcus Jooste. At least, we think we do.  What we do know has been uncovered by careful and thorough investigative journalism, but the majority of Jooste’s and the company’s secrets remain locked in a vault of confidentiality imposed by Steinhoff Read more >

Int’l Day for Universal Access to Information: the right to know

 “Access to reliable information saves lives. Misinformation and rumours can cost them.”   This is the message from Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay today, on the International Day for Universal Access to Information, proclaimed at the Unesco general conference in 2015 and celebrated annually on 28 September.   This simple lesson is one we have learnt to Read more >

Stricter adherence to PAIA will rebuild public trust

By Larry Kirsch The Covid-19 pandemic, precipitous global economic collapse, and demonstrations of civil protest from Minneapolis to Hong Kong and South Africa’s Western Cape have all demanded a decisive response from public leaders. The results, so far, have not instilled excessive confidence in the ability of governments – right, left, or centre – to Read more >

Swift action needed on party funding bill

By Judith February First published on EWN The recent brouhaha regarding President Cyril Ramaphosa and the so-called ‘Bosasa campaign donation’ has again put the funding of political parties in the spotlight. It started when DA leader Mmusi Maimane asked Ramaphosa about a donation of R500 000 he had allegedly received from Bosasa’s Gavin Watson. This Read more >

Political party funding to become more transparent

Today the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) handed down judgment in the political party funding-related matter of My Vote Counts (MVC) vs the president of South Africa, the minister of justice, and others. The court ruled that voters have the right to be informed about the sources of the private funding of political parties. In delivering today’s Read more >

Information Regulator must start doing its job

South Africa’s Information Regulator (IR) was established in 2016, as a provision of the Protection of Personal Information Act, or Popi. The IR came into being before Popi was in force, but sections pertaining to the entity were put into effect through a presidential proclamation in April 2014. Popi was signed into law in November Read more >

Information Regulator gets off the ground

In November last year we reported on the establishment of the Office of the Information Regulator. This body falls under the Protection of Personal Information (Popi) Act, which serves as South Africa’s data protection act. Popi itself is not yet in force, but sections pertaining to the Regulator were put into effect through a presidential Read more >

Shadow Report 2016: public’s right to information not upheld

New research by the Access to Information Network (ATI Network) – formerly known as the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) Civil Society Network – has revealed a shocking dereliction of duties by public and private bodies to realise South Africans’ constitutional right of access to information. The Shadow Report 2016 was compiled with Read more >