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The quest to establish a world-class Information Regulator

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 21 Feb 2017
Sizwe Snail ka Mtuze, member of the SA Information Regulator.
Sizwe Snail ka Mtuze, member of the SA Information Regulator.

Since SA's Information Regulator took office on 1 December, its members have been hard at work conceptualising and thinking through the type of organisation they want to establish.

This is according to Sizwe Snail ka Mtuze, a member of the SA Information Regulator and director of Snail Ka Mtuze Attorneys at Law.

"It is important for members to build a solid foundation for this compliance body."

Speaking at ITWeb's Governance, Risk and Compliance conference, taking place today in Bryanston, Johannesburg, Snail ka Mtuze said there is a misconception that the Information Regulator is the "POPI Regulator"; however, it is not.

The mission of the Information Regulator, he explained: "Is to ensure both the constitutionally guaranteed right of access to information and the right to privacy are equally protected and enjoyed by all citizens."

In a quest to establish a world-class regulator, it's important the SA Information Regulator learns from countries that are doing it right, he said. "We have decided to undertake a number of benchmarking visits to a few countries globally, starting with the UK and Germany. African countries which have been identified so far are Ghana and Sierra Leoni."

Governance structure

"The first thing we did after we took office was to establish the governance structure of the regulator and have established a number of committees," he explained. "Section 49 of the POPI Act mandates the regulator to establish one or more committees for the proper performance of its functions."

He highlighted the five members that make up the Office of the Information Regulator: the chairperson, advocate Pansy Tlakula; advocate Lebogang Stroom-Nzama, full-time member responsible for the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA); and advocate Collen Weapond, full-time member responsible for the POPI Act. The part-time members are professor Tana Pistorius and Snail ka Mtuze, who are also responsible for both POPI and PAIA.

Section 47 of the POPI Act empowers the regulator to establish its own administration to assist it in the performance of its duties, and in doing so, he said, it will appoint a chief executive officer who will head the administration.

Last week, the members of the SA Information Regulator visited the speaker of the National Assembly and the office of the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, where they shared with them what they have done so far.

"In our discussions, we were told of both parliament's and the public's expectation of the Information Regulator. Officials of the Department of Justice expect the office to be up and running in two years' time; however, we are committed to shortening the operationalising of the regulator to half of that time.

"We cannot achieve our goals without the input and support of the members of the public; we count on you and encourage you to engage with our office," Snail ka Mtuze concluded.

The SA Information Regulator is currently operating from the offices of the Department of Justice and Correctional Offices in Pretoria (Tshwane).

It can be accessed at: www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/index.html

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