National Human Rights Day in South Africa, celebrated during human rights month, is historically linked to the recognition of the sacrifices made on 21 March 1960, during the Sharpeville Massacre. The commemoration of this significant day has, throughout the years, afforded South Africans an opportunity to reflect on the progress that our new and democratic nation has made in promoting and protecting human rights.
Many of the rights enjoyed today by South Africans have their roots in these historic struggles and, with our Constitution[1] being world renowned for being the most progressive globally, the promotion and protection of human rights has been a task taken seriously by the South African government.
Same rights, new challenges
Most of the human rights entrenched in the Constitution are premised on our nation’s historical past of inequality and racial segregation. While we are living in the new and democratic South Africa, there have been new challenges, affecting human rights, that have bellowed the protection of the Constitution.
Quite recently and, with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the ever increasing speed at which the digital age of information is moving, information laws have had to compete with these developments, with regulators across the globe having to strenuously make provision for the regulation of information technology and data privacy and data protection for the benefit of both citizens and organisations.
South Africa’s information laws and their synergy
On home soil, we have seen the recent promulgation into law of amongst others, the Cyber Crimes Act, 19 of 2020 (to combat crimes of the modern times) and the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”).
In addition the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2 of 2000 (“PAIA”) has long been in force, the difference this time being that its amended regulations now provide that the exemption of private bodies from having PAIA manuals no longer applies.[2] Therefore, both public and private bodies are required to have PAIA manuals.
There is a synergy between POPIA and PAIA in that both Acts are information laws. The only essential difference between the two Acts is that PAIA, on the one hand, protects the right to access to information while POPIA, on the other hand, protects the right to privacy in relation to personal information and the protection against unwarranted exposure of this personal information.
Both Acts work together to ensure that information is managed lawfully. Furthermore, both Acts share the same regulatory body, being the Information Regulator.
On a constitutional level and, in commemorating national Human Rights Day, it is important to note that PAIA gives effect to the constitutional right of access to information under section 32 of the Constitution. POPIA, on the other hand, gives effect to the constitutional right to privacy under section 14 of the Constitution.
On 28 January 2022, South Africa participated in World Data Protection Day. This, together with the recent developments around POPIA, has marked our nation’s continuous effort to give effect to constitutional rights while keeping abreast of current affairs and global developments, particularly with reference to information laws.
[1] The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
[2] A PAIA manual is a document that an organisation must prepare and have for the purposes of explaining to people how they can get access to information held by that organisation. Previously, only public bodies were obliged to prepare PAIA manuals, with private bodies being exempt. As of 1 January 2022, all bodies are required to have PAIA manuals.
