ICT companies that have not yet published their information manual as required by section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) have some breathing room, as the initial deadline of 31 August 2005 has been extended.
According to the government gazette, all private bodies, excluding public companies, are exempted from submitting the manual until at least 31 December 2005.
The gazette announcement also grants long-term exemptions to private bodies and private companies until 31 December 2011. This excludes private companies within certain sectors whose turnover exceeds the amount specified for that sector in the published schedule, or if they employ 50 or more employees, irrespective of turnover. These companies must still comply by 31 December 2005.
In a press statement, the South African Human Rights Commission welcomed the extension but regretted that it had been left late.
The commission says it approached the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development regarding exemption long before the due date and reiterated its position that the Act be amended in order to exclude small private bodies from submitting the information manuals.
The temporary exemptions are not satisfactory as they result in uncertainty in the law and cause unnecessary stress to the public, says the commission.
Wim Mostert, an attorney with Mostert Opperman Goodburn in Sandton, agrees that the extension has been left late. He says professional advisors did not know until the last day of the 31 August deadline (when the gazette was published) which businesses, if any, would be exempted. Many that now qualify for an exemption until 2011 have already spent money on lawyers or auditors to prepare the manuals, he says.
The schedule of sectors and turnover amounts that would determine whether a private body qualifies for the 2011 extension has been published on the commission's Web site.
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