Guidelines to PAIA Manual

We have filled in point 2; 4 iii ; 5 and 6 for you so all you need to do is copy it as it is.

The postal and street address, phone and fax number and, if available, electronic mail address of the head of the body;

Under point 2, you need to leave it as it is. We have completed this point for you.

Under point 3, you need to consult the list of legislation that we have provided for you here and pick the Acts in terms of which you are obliged to keep or submit records. For example the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 and others. All you need to do is list the applicable Acts and then you are done with this point.

Under point 4i, all you need to put in here is IF your private body has got any pamphlets or annual reports that a person could obtain without having to go through all the request procedures as contained in the Act.

You want to list items here so that you do not have to deal with unnecessary requests for records that are actually easily available. If your private body does not have anything to put here you can just say "Not applicable"

Under point 4ii, you need to summarise what kinds of records your private body has. An example follows, but this however is not the standard you need to adapt it to your own type of business/ operations.

Example of how to classify your information
in terms of subjects and categories

This is a very general example and not exhaustive in its content.

It might not always apply to specific private bodies, as they are all so different in their operations. Thus please try and use this as an example and rework it to suit your own particular private body, there is no wrong or right way as each body is so individual and the amount of detail will also vary. Some subjects can even be incorporated into others if the private body is very small.

What you want to do here is classify where a record is located within your private body, you do not need to include the contents of the record. It does not mean however, that a person will have access to a record listed, access will be determined according to the procedures in the Act and once a request has been given on the correct form and then a decision will be made by the head of the private body.

EXAMPLE OF CLASSIFICATION OF RECORDS:

Administration: (subject)

Licences (categories)
Minutes of management meetings
Minutes of staff meetings
Correspondence
Etc.

Human Resources:

Staff recruitment policies
Employment contracts
Remuneration records and policies
Etc.

Operations:

Sales records
Production records
Name specific types of work done by the private body and records related to it.
Clients registry (if applicable)
Etc.

Finances:

Financial statements
Annual financial statements
Vouchers
Stock records
Assets inventory
Etc.

Other:

Under point 4iii, all you need to do is copy the request procedures and the fees. It has already been summarized for you.

Under point 5, copy it as it is. This will be sufficient.

Under point 6, all you need to mention here is where the manual is and will be available, see the guideline for an example.

STEP 3:

Note that there are no specifications as to how your manual must look in terms of style. That is completely up to you all that is required is that your manual contains the information that is prescribed in terms of section 51 of the Act.

Now that you have compiled your manual you need to follow the instructions from Regulation 187

Date of submissions: 31 August 2005

Copies of the manual in must be distributed in terms of Regulation 187 to the following -

PROVISIONS SPECIFIC TO PRIVATE BODIES:

Private bodies must comply with the following provisions with their manuals:

The South African Human Rights Commission
Submit to the controlling body of which the private body is a member
The Government Printers to be printed in the Gazette
The head of a private body must make the manual available for public inspection during office hours and upon request
To be placed on the website (if available)

PROVISIONS SPECIFIC TO PUBLIC BODIES:

Public bodies must comply with the following provisions with their manuals:

The South African Human Rights Commission in three official languages
The Government Printers to be printed in the Gazette in three official languages
To the all the offices of that public body in three official languages
Section 6 places of Legal Deposit (see Directory of Contacts list on www.gcis.gov.za for the Legal Deposit Libraries)
To be placed on the website (if available)

HOW TO SUBMIT TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION:

Submissions should be made to:
The Research and Documentation Department
The South African Human Rights Commission

Postal Address: Private Bag 2700, Houghton 2041

Or deliver to: Address: 29 Princess of Wales Terrace, Parktown, Johannesburg

And Submissions can be made electronically to: paia@sahrc.org.za

HOW TO PRINT IN THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE:

Printing in the Government Gazette:

Every public and private body is required to submit their manuals for publication to the Government Printers

Recommendations by the SAHRC for these three sections:

When submitting copies of the manual to the SAHRC and the Gazette please exclude the contents page and the forms and the fee structure for a saving on costs.

For the sake of convenience and accessibility, the forms and fee structure should be posted on the relevant bodies website. If such a private body does not have a website then mention must be made to a link to either the SAHRC's website (www.sahrc.org.za) or the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (www.doj.gov.za) (under "regulations") which will contain the forms and the fee structure.

You may include the contents page in your manual if you wish - it is a matter of choice and you will not be penalized if you do not include it.