Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey - Federation of ...

100
an applicant a fee for inspection or copying of the manual or to charge fees other than those prescribed,
punishable by a fi ne or imprisonment. 252
On the other hand, no one shall be liable for anything done in good faith “in the exercise or performance or
purported exercise or performance of any power or duty” under the Law (section 89). The RTI Law does not
provide for protection for whistleblowers but these are the subject of protection pursuant to a law specially
designed for that purpose. 253
Promotional Measures
The South African RTI Law includes a number of promotional measures. Pursuant to section 1, the
information offi cer is effectively the head of a public body and, in accordance with section 17, each public
body must “designate such number of persons as deputy information offi cers as are necessary to render
the public body as accessible as reasonably possible for requesters of its records.”
Every public body must, within six months of the Law coming into force, compile, in at least three offi cial
languages, a manual with information about its information disclosure processes. The precise contents of
the manual are set out in section 14, including information about the structure of the body, how to make
information requests, services available to the public, any consultative or participatory processes and a
description of all remedies. The manual must be updated annually and disseminated in accordance with
regulations to that effect. The 2002 Regulation contains detailed stipulations as to the dissemination of
these guides, including to every place of ‘legal deposit’, the Human Rights Commission and every offi ce of
the public body. 254 A similar obligation is placed on private bodies pursuant to section 51, which has proven
problematical, as these bodies claim that this is unduly onerous for them and few have actually published
guides.
The Human Rights Commission is also tasked with publishing a guide, in all eleven offi cial languages, on
how to use the Law. Section 10 sets out in some detail what must be included in the guide, including the
names and contact details of every information offi cer of every public body, the procedures for requesting
information and assistance available through the Commission. The guide must be updated every two years
as necessary. Once again, the 2002 Regulation provides for extensive dissemination of the guide, including
to every place of legal deposit and every public body, and through publication in the Gazette and website
of the Commission. 255
Public bodies are required to submit an annual report to the Human Rights Commission with detailed
information about the number of information requests, whether or not they were granted, the provisions
of the Law relied upon to deny access, appeals and so on (section 32). The Human Rights Commission is
then tasked with including in its annual report to the National Assembly information on the functioning of
the Law, including any recommendations and detailed information, in relation to each public body, about
requests received, granted, refused, appealed and so on (section 84).
The Human Rights Commission is also given a number of other tasks, to the extent that its fi nancial and
other resources allow, including:
undertaking educational and training programmes;
promoting the timely dissemination of accurate information;
making recommendations to improve the functioning of the Law, including to public bodies;
monitoring implementation; and
assisting individuals to exercise their rights under the Law (section 83).