The Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) gives effect to Section 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which provides that everyone has the right to access information held by the state, as well as information held by another person (or private body) when such privately held information is required for the exercise and protection of rights.

More broadly, PAIA aims to underline the importance of access to information in a democratic society by fostering a culture of transparency and accountability. PAIA does this by requiring public (government) and private (non-government) bodies to create both a manual describing the type of records they hold, and procedures for others to access that information. PAIA also sets limits on the types of information that can be accessed in that information requested might not be granted under various circumstances.

The Energy Council has compiled a PAIA Manual in accordance with Section 14 of PAIA, which provides an outline of the Energy Council’s information which is accessible to the public. This includes:

• The structure, functions and objectives of the Energy Council;
• Contact details for the Energy Council;
• The procedure for requesting information from the Energy Council;
• Information that is automatically available through the Energy Council and its website;
• Fees payable when requesting access to any of these records.

The Energy Council PAIA Manual is available here