Everyone has the right to information – know your rights

Everyone has the right of access to (a) any information held by the state; and (b) any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights.

It is also stated that national legislation must be enacted to give effect to this right, and may provide for reasonable measures to alleviate the administrative and financial burden on the state.

The purpose of this right is to ensure that people have access to information held by the state or another person, for the purpose of exercising or protection of any right.

The motivation for giving effect to the right of access to information is to ensure that we have transparency and accountability in both the private and public sectors, and to promote a society in which the people of South Africa have effective access to information, to enable them to exercise and protect all their rights.

State information may be obtained by requesting access to all documents held by any government department, its officials or any other public body. It does not matter when that information came into existence. These include:

* Personal records held by the government department or public body.

* Third party information or records: only with permission from the relevant third party, especially if the documents contain confidential or private information.

* Information to which access is not restricted by the Promotion of Access to Information Act,

* The records of Cabinet and its committees.

* Records that relate to the judicial function of a court.

n Information obtained by a special tribunal that was established in terms of the law; held by a judicial officer of such tribunal or court; held by an individual member of parliament or provincial legislature.

Article compiled by Angie Sebastiao, candidate attorney at Malherbe Rigg & Ranwell Inc.

Malherbe Rigg and Ranwell Attorneys will each week introduce readers of the Advertiser to Your Rights, published under the Bill of Rights within the South African Constitution. Those seeking further information regarding their rights may communicate a query to jeff@mrr.co.za.