PAIA Manual

1. Introduction

The Promotion of Access to Information Act, No. 2 of 2000 (“the Act”) was enacted on 3rd February 2000 and gives effect to the constitutional right of access to information held by the State and any other person that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights. Where a request is made in terms of the Act, the body to which the request is made is obliged to release the information, except where the Act expressly provides that the information may or must not be released. The Act sets out the requisite procedural requirements attached to such requests.

2. Introduction to Inhance Supply Chain Solutions (PTY) Ltd.

The company is a juristic person incorporated as a private company in terms of the company laws of the Republic of South Africa. The Company is classified as a “private body” within the definition of Section 1 of the Act.

3. Purpose of the Manual

This manual has been prepared in accordance with Section 51 of the Act. It is intended to foster a culture of transparency and accountability within the company, by giving effect:

• to the right to information that is required for the exercise or protection of any right; and
• to actively promote a society in which the members of the public have effective access to information to enable them to more fully exercise and protect their rights.

Section 9 of the Act recognises that the right to access information cannot be unlimited and should be subject to justifiable limitations, including, but not limited to:

• limitations aimed at the reasonable protection of privacy.
• commercial confidentiality.
• effective, efficient, and good governance; and
• in a manner which balances the right of access with any other rights, including such rights contained in the Bill of Rights in Chapter 2 of the Constitution.

This manual sets out to provide the way requests to the company are to be made.

This manual is drafted in accordance with the generic manual made available by the information regulator.

4. Particulars in terms of Section 51

4.1. Company Contact Details [Section 51(1)(a)]

• Full name: Inhance Supply Chain Solutions (Pty) Ltd
• Postal Address: Inhance Supply Chain Solutions (Pty) Ltd, 8 Viscount Road Viscount Office Park, Block C, Unit 3, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2007
• Telephone Number: 011 615 4048
• Website address: https://inhancesc.com

4.2. Contact details of the Designated Information Officer

• Designated Information Officer: Bruce Laval
• Physical Address: 8 Viscount Road Viscount Office Park, Block C, Unit 3, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2007
• Telephone Number: 011 615 4048
• Email Address: bruce.laval@inhancesc.com 

5. The Section 10 Guide on How to use the Act (Section 51(1) (b))

A guide has been compiled in terms of Section 10 of the Act by the information regulator which contains information in an easily comprehensible form and nature as may be required by a person wishing to exercise any right contemplated in the Act or the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPI”). A guide to the Act is available from the information regulator’s website: www.justice.gov.za/inforeg The contact details of the Information Regulator are as follows:

• A guide to the Act is available from the information regulator’s website: www.justice.gov.za/inforeg

The contact details of the Information Regulator are as follows:
Information Regulator (South Africa)
33 Hoofd Street Forum III,
Braampark,
Braamfontein
E- mail: inforeg@justice.co.za

6. Records Available in Terms of South African Legistation (Section 51(1) (b))

The company keeps documents in accordance with the following legislation.

(Please note that this is in no way an exhaustive list):

1. Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008
2. Electronic Communications and Transactions Act No 25 of 2002
3. National Credit  Act 34 of 2005
4. Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act No 37 of 2002
5. Companies Act No 61 of 1973
6. Copyright Act No 98 of 1978
7. Employment Equity Act No 55 of 1998
8. Income Tax Act No 95 of 1967
9. Labour Relations Act No 66 of 1995
10. Basic Conditions of Employment Act   No 75 of 1997
11. Electronic Communications and Transactions Act No 25 of 2002
12. Unemployment Insurance Act No 30 of 1996
13. Promotion of Access to Information Act POPIA: N04 of 2013
14. Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provisions of Communication Related Information Act No 70 of 2002
15. Skills Development Act No 97 of 1998
16. Skills Development Levies Act No 9 of 1999
17. Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act No 4 of 2002
18. Various others.

7. Records

7.1 Records Automatically Available

Records that are automatically available to the public are:

• all records of the Company lodged in terms of regulatory/legislative requirements with various statutory/regulatory bodies; and
• booklets, newsletters and pamphlets published by the Company, which are available on the Company’s website.

7.2 Records that may be requested

The information in this section provides a reference to the records that the Company holds, which will facilitate a request in terms of the Act. 

These records referred to below include but are not limited to records which pertain to the Company’s own affairs. 

These records are not automatically available and can only be made available by facilitating a request in terms of the Act. Please note that the records listed below are not exhaustive. 

7.2.1 Personnel Documents and Records

Personal Information relating to past, present and prospective personnel;  “personal information” as defined in the Act means Information about an identifiable natural person, including, but not limited to:

• information relating to the race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, national, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental health, well-being, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth of the person;
• information relating to the education or the medical, criminal or employment history of the person; – any identifying number, symbol, email address, physical address, telephone number, location information, online identifier or other particular assigned to the person
• the biometric information of that person; – the personal opinions, views or preferences of the person;
• correspondence sent by the person that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature or further correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence;
• the views or opinions of another individual about the person;
• the name of the individual where it appears with other personal information relating to the person or where the disclosure of the name itself would reveal information about the person, 

but excludes information about an individual who has been dead for more than 20 years; 

• Records provided by third parties relating to personnel;
• Records relating to conditions of employment; 
• Records relating to personnel-related contracts and quasi-legal records; 
• Records containing the results of internal evaluations; 
• Correspondence relating to personnel; • Disciplinary Records; 
• Records of salaries paid, other remuneration and benefits as they relate to all past present and prospective personnel; 
• SETA Records; • Records embodying codes of conduct and policies and procedures relating to personnel; 
• Leave Records; • Pension Fund Records; 
• Provident Fund Records; and 
• IRP5s.

“Personnel” refers to any person who works for, or provides services to or on behalf of the Company, and receives or is entitled to receive remuneration and any other person who assists in carrying out or conducting the business of the Company. This includes, without limitation, directors (executives and non-executive), all permanent, temporary, and part-time staff, as well as contract workers. 

7.2.2 Client Related Records

• Records provided by clients in respect of their business and in terms of the contractual arrangements between the Company and clients;
• Records generated by or within the Company relating to its clients, including transactional records; Records pertaining to third party information provided by clients; and 
• Records provided by third parties in the course of doing business with the Company. 

A “client” refers to any natural person that concludes a credit agreement with the Company. 

7.2.3 Statutory Company Records/Corporate Records

• Documents of Incorporation; 
• Memorandum and Articles of Association;
• Minutes of executive and other decision making operational bodies;
• Minutes of Board of Directors’ Meetings and Board sub-committee Meetings;
• Records relating to the Appointment of Directors/ Auditors/Secretaries/Public Officers and Other Officers;
• Share Register and other Statutory Registers;
• Delegations of authority; and
• Other statutory documents of a legal and commercial nature.

7.2.4 Other Company Records

• Documents relating to the operational, commercial and financial interests of the Company;
• Commercial and other legal contracts or agreements;
• Client and other data bases;
• Information on existing and past litigation;
• Trade Mark and Intellectual Property applications and information;
• Administrative Information;
• Licenses;
• Human Resources Information;
• Insurance Policies;
• Marketing records;
• Internal and external correspondence;
• Disaster recovery plans;
• Company product records;
• Internal policies and procedures; and
• Records held by officials of the Company.

7.2.5 Other Party Records

The Company may possess records pertaining to other parties, including without limitation contractors, suppliers, subsidiary/holding/sister companies, joint venture companies and service providers. Alternatively, such other parties may possess records that can be said to belong to the Company. These records include but are not limited to: 

Personnel, customer or private body records which are held by another party as opposed to the records held by the Company itself; and

Records held by the Company pertaining to other parties, including but not limited to, financial, commercial, operational and legal records, contractual records, correspondence, records provided by the other party, and records provided by third parties about contractors/suppliers. 

7.3 Website

8. Procedure for Requesting Access to Information

8.1 Access to records held by Company

Records held by the company may be accessed by requests only once the prerequisite requirements for access have been met.

A requestor must use the prescribed form to make a request for access to a record. A “requestor” in relation to a private body means –

• any person, including, but not limited to, a public body or an official thereof, making a request for access to a record of that private body; or
• a person acting on behalf of the person contemplated above.

8.2 Form of request

8.2.1 The requester must use Form as set out in Annexure A of this manual, to make a request for access to a record.

8.2.2 The request should be made to the Designated Information Officer at the address, fax number or electronic mail address as stated above.

8.2.3 The prescribed form must be filled in with sufficient detail to enable the Designated Information Officer to identify [Section 53]:

• The record or records requested and the requester of the information;
• The form of access required;
• The postal address; fax number or e-mail address of the requester in the Republic;
• The right the requester is seeking to exercise or protect and provide an explanation of why
• the record is required for the exercise or protection of that right;
• If in addition to a written reply, the manner in which the requester wishes to be informed of
• the decision regarding the request made; and
• If the request is made on behalf of a person, the capacity in which the requester is making
• the request.

If an individual is unable to complete the prescribed form because of illiteracy or disability, such a person may make the request orally.

8.3 Fees

The Act provides for two types of fees, namely:

• A request fee, which will be a standard fee. The fee that the requester must pay to a private body is R5; and
• An access fee, which must be calculated by considering reproduction costs, search and preparation time and cost, as well as postal costs.

The requester may lodge a complaint to Information Regulator or lodge an application with the court against the tender or payment of the request fee or access fee. [Section 54(3) (b)].

8.3.1 The requester must pay the prescribed request fee, before any further processing can take place. When the Designated Information Officer receives the request, such officer shall by notice require the requester to pay the prescribed request fee (if any),before further processing of the request. [Section 54(1)]. The notice must also set out the procedure for lodging the complaint to the Information Regulator or the application [Section 54(3) (c)].

8.3.2 A requester, who seeks access to a record containing personal information about that requester, is not required to pay the request fee. Every other requester must pay the prescribed required request fee.

8.3.3 If the search for and the preparation of the record for disclosure, including arrangements to make it available in the requested form, requires more than the hours prescribed, the Designated Information Officer shall notify the requester to pay as a deposit the prescribed portion (being no more than one third) of the access fee which would be payable if the request is granted. [(Section 54(2)].

8.3.4 If a deposit has been paid and the request for access refused, the deposit referred to above must be repaid to the requester.

8.3.5 The designated information officer may withhold a record until the requester has paid the applicable fees as indicated in Annexure B.

8.3.6 A requester, whose request for access to a record has been granted, must pay an access fee for reproduction, search and preparation, and for any time reasonably required in excess of the prescribed hours to search for and prepare the record for disclosure including making arrangements to make it available in the requested from [Section 54(6)]. In terms of the Act [Section 54(7)], the access fee prescribed for the purposes referred to above must

• provide for the costs of making the record, or a transcription of a record;
• and if applicable a postal fee; and
• the time reasonably required to search for the record and prepare the record for disclosure to the requester.

9. Considering your Request

9.1 The Company will, within 30 days of receipt of the request, decide whether to grant or decline the request and give notice with reasons to that effect [Section 56].

9.2 The 30 day period within which the Company is to decide whether to grant or refuse the request may be extended for a further period of not more than 30 days if

• the request is for a large number of records or requires a search through a large number
• of records and compliance with the original period would unreasonably interfere with
• the activities of the private body concerned.
• the request requires a search for records in, or collection thereof from, an office of the
• private body not situated in the same town or city as the office of the head that cannot
• reasonably be completed within the original period;
• consultation among divisions of the Company or with another private body is necessary
• or desirable to decide upon the request that cannot reasonably be completed within the original period;
• more than one of the circumstances contemplated in the paragraphs above exist in
• respect of the request making compliance with the original period not reasonably possible.

If the period is extended, the Designated Information Officer will within 30 days after the request is received notify the requester of

• The period of the extension.
• The reasons for the extension, including the provisions of this Act relied upon; and
• That the requester may lodge a complaint to the Information Regulator or an application with a court against the extension, and the procedure (including the period) for lodging the application.

10. Grounds for Refusal of Access to Records

The main grounds for the Company to refuse a request for information relates to the:

  of the privacy of a third party who is a natural person, which would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information of that natural person [Section 63];

10.2 Mandatory protection of the commercial information of a third party, if the record contains:

• Trade secrets of that third party;
• Financial, commercial, scientific or technical information which disclosure could likely cause harm to the financial or commercial interests of that third party;
• Information disclosed in confidence by a third party to the Company, if the disclosure
• could put that third party at a disadvantage in negotiations or commercial competition [Section 64];

10.3 Mandatory protection of confidential information of third parties if it is protected in terms of any agreement [Section 65]; 

10.4 Mandatory protection of the safety of individuals and the protection of property [Section 66];

10.5 Mandatory protection of records which would be regarded as privileged in legal proceedings [Section 67];

10.6 The commercial activities of the Company, which may include:

• Trade secrets of the Company;
• Financial, commercial, scientific or technical information which disclosure could likely cause harm to the financial or commercial interests of the Company;
• Information which, if it is disclosed could put the Company at a disadvantage in negotiations or commercial competition.
• A computer programme which is owned by the Company, and which is protected by copyright [Section 68]; and
• The research information of the Company or a third party, if its disclosure would disclose the identity of the Company, the researcher or the subject matter of the research and would place the research at a serious disadvantage [Section 69];

10.7 Requests for information that are clearly frivolous or vexatious, or which involve an unreasonable diversion of resources shall be refused.

11. Remedies Available when the Company Refuses a Request for Information

11.1 Internal Remedies

The Company does not have an internal appeals procedure. As such, the decision made by the Designated Information Officer is final. The requesters will have to exercise such external remedies at their disposal, if the request for information is refused and the requester is not satisfied with the answer supplied by the Designated Information officer.

11.2 External Remedies

A requester that is dissatisfied with the Designated Information officer’s refusal to disclose information may, within 30 days of notification of the decision, apply to a Court for relief.

Likewise, a third party dissatisfied with the Designated Information officer’s decision to grant a request for information may, within 30 days of notification of the decision, lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator or apply to a Court for relief. For the purposes of the Act, the Courts that have jurisdiction over these applications are the:

• Constitutional Court,
• The High Court or another Court of similar status.

12. Availability of this Manual

This manual is available for inspection by the general public, upon request, during office hours and free of charge at the offices of the company as well as on the website: www.inhancesc.com

Copies may be requested from the information regulator and the Government gazette.

Request for Access to Information Form: Annexure A – Form C – Request for Access to Records of Private Body