New PAIA regulations places more responsibility on information officers’ shoulders

The latest published regulations pertaining to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) places more responsibilities on information officers’ already burdened shoulders. According to Era Gunning from ENS Africa’s Banking and Finance Department these new PAIA Regulations, among other things, places a duty on the Information Regulator to publish a guide containing such information, in an easily comprehensible form and manner. Gunning tells the OFM Business Hour that Information officers are obliged to have a copy of the guide, in at least two of the official languages, at their registered head offices, for public inspection during normal office hours. In addition an information officer must make available a copy of the guide, at no charge, upon the written request of any person on a prescribed form. She says the penalties for not doing so are severe and include a possible jail time.