PAIA Manual

MANUAL IN TERMS OF SECTION 51 OF THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT 2 OF 2000

1. INTRODUCTION 

1.1 Section 32 of the Constitution gives everyone the right of access to information held by the State, and to information held by another person that is required for the exercise or protection of any right. The Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (the Act) gives effect to that right. 

1.2 Section 51 of the Act requires every private body to compile a manual setting out how a requester may obtain access to the records it holds. This is the manual of Specialised Exhibitions (Pty) Ltd (registration number 1969/007402/07), trading as Montgomery Group Africa (the Company). 

1.3 The right of access is not absolute. the Act sets out grounds on which access must or may be refused. Those grounds are summarised in clause 9 and set out in Annexure C. 

1.4 This Manual is read with the Company's Privacy Notice, which explains how the Company processes personal information, and with the Company's Protection of Personal Information Policy. 
 

2. PARTICULARS OF THE COMPANY 

2.1 The particulars required by section 51(1)(a) of the Act are: 

2.2 The deputy information officer designated under section 56 of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 is Charlene Hefer, Portfolio Director, charlene.hefer@montgomerygroup.com, +27 10 003 3039. 

3. THE INFORMATION REGULATOR 

3.1 The Information Regulator oversees both the Act and the Protection of Personal Information Act. Its particulars are: 

Information Regulator (South Africa), JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001. Postal: Post Office Box 31533, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017. Telephone: +27 10 023 5200. General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za. Complaints under the Act: PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za. Website: www.inforegulator.org.za. 

3.2 The Regulator has published a guide under section 10 of the Act, in each official language, explaining how to use the Act. The guide is available from the Regulator at the details above and on its website. 

4. DEFINITIONS 

4.1 Data subject means the person to whom personal information relates. 

4.2 Information Officer means the head of the Company as contemplated in section 1 of the Act, and includes any deputy information officer designated under section 56 of the Protection of Personal Information Act. 

4.3 The expression the Act means the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000. 

4.4 Personal requester means a requester seeking access to a record containing personal information about the requester. 

4.5 Record means any recorded information in the possession or under the control of the Company, regardless of form or medium, and whether or not the Company created it. 

4.6 Requester means any person making a request for access to a record of the Company, or a person acting on their behalf. 

4.7 Verification Record means the record a contractor makes and keeps under the Company's Immigration and Right-to-Work Compliance Policy, showing that a worker's right to work was verified against original documents, and which the Company may call for. 

5. RECORDS AVAILABLE WITHOUT A REQUEST 

5.1 The following are available on the Company's website or on request, without a request under the Act: 

5.1.1 this Manual; 

5.1.2 the Company's Privacy Notice; 

5.1.3 the Company's Exhibition Terms and Conditions; 

5.1.4 the Company's Immigration and Right-to-Work Compliance Policy; and 

5.1.5 event information published in the exhibitor zone. 

5.2 No notice has been published under section 52(2) of the Act in respect of categories of records automatically available. 

6. RECORDS HELD IN TERMS OF OTHER LEGISLATION 

6.1 The Company holds records in terms of, among others, the following legislation. The listing of a statute does not mean that records held under it are available for inspection. 

6.1.1 Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 

6.1.2 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 

6.1.3 Companies Act 71 of 2008 

6.1.4 Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 

6.1.5 Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 

6.1.6 Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 

6.1.7 Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 

6.1.8 Immigration Act 13 of 2002 

6.1.9 Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 

6.1.10 Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 

6.1.11 Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 

6.1.12 Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 

6.1.13 Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 and Skills Development Levies Act 9 of 1999 

6.1.14 Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 and Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act 4 of 2002 

6.1.15 Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991 

7. CATEGORIES OF RECORDS HELD 

7.1 The categories of records held by the Company are set out in Annexure A. The listing of a category does not mean that access will be granted. Every request is considered against the grounds of refusal in clause 9. 

7.2 The Company draws particular attention to the records described in Annexure A under accreditation and site access. They comprise the Acknowledgements and Undertakings given to the Company, the accreditation and site access records, the site access refusal record, any Verification Record or copy of a document produced to the Company on request, and the records of any inspection by the authorities. They identify individuals working on the Company's premises and, where a Verification Record has been produced, their identity, nationality and permit particulars, together with the dates and location at which they were present. The Company has determined that disclosure would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about third parties, and that disclosure of any record identifying an individual's immigration status or permit particulars could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of that individual. Access is accordingly refused under sections 63 and 66 of the Act, both of which are mandatory grounds. 

8. REQUEST PROCEDURE 

8.1 A request must be made on Form 2 of Annexure A to the Regulations Relating to the Promotion of Access to Information, 2021, published under GNR 757 in Government Gazette 45057 of 27 August 2021 (the Regulations), read with regulation 7, a copy of which is at Annexure B and which is also available from the Information Officer and on the Regulator's website. 

8.2 The completed form must be delivered to the Information Officer at the address, email address or fax number in clause 2.1. 

8.3 The requester must: 

8.3.1 provide sufficient particulars to enable the Company to identify the record and the requester; 

8.3.2 indicate the form of access required; 

8.3.3 state the right that the requester seeks to exercise or protect, and explain why the record is required to exercise or protect that right; 

8.3.4 provide an address or other means in the Republic to which information may be sent; and 

8.3.5 where the request is made on behalf of another person, attach proof of the capacity in which the request is made. 

8.4 Where a requester is unable to read or write, or has a disability, the request may be made orally and the Information Officer will reduce it to writing and provide a copy to the requester. 

8.5 Where a request does not comply with the requirements of the Act or this Manual, the Information Officer will notify the requester and indicate what further information or steps are required. 

9. GROUNDS OF REFUSAL 

9.1 The Act sets out grounds on which the Information Officer must or may refuse a request. Those in Chapter 4 of Part 3, applicable to private bodies, are summarised in Annexure C. 

9.2 Where a ground of refusal is mandatory the Information Officer has no discretion and must refuse the request, subject only to section 70. 

9.3 Where a record contains information that may be refused together with information that may not, the Information Officer will grant access to that part of the record which may be disclosed, in terms of section 59 of the Act. 

9.4 Refusal is given in writing with reasons, and informs the requester of the remedies in clause 12. 

10. FEES 

10.1 A personal requester is not required to pay a request fee. Every other requester must pay the prescribed request fee before the request is considered. 

10.2 Where a request is granted, an access fee is payable for the reproduction and preparation of the record and for the time reasonably spent searching for and preparing it, calculated at the prescribed rates. The Information Officer notifies the requester in writing of the amount payable and may require a deposit of one third of the access fee. 

10.3 The fees payable are those prescribed in Annexure B to the Regulations, as amended from time to time and published in the Government Gazette. The current schedule is set out in Annexure D. The Company is a registered vendor for value-added tax purposes and value-added tax is added to the prescribed fees. 

10.4 The Information Officer may waive or reduce a fee where there is sufficient reason to do so. 

11. DECISION and NOTIFICATION 

11.1 The Information Officer will decide a request and notify the requester within thirty (30) days of receiving it. 

11.2 That period may be extended once, by a further period of not more than thirty (30) days, where the request is for a large number of records, requires a search through records at premises other than the office receiving it, or requires consultation with a third party or another body. The Information Officer will notify the requester in writing of the extension and the reasons for it. 

11.3 Where a request concerns a record containing information about a third party, the Information Officer will take all reasonable steps to inform that third party in terms of section 71 and to afford them the opportunity to make representations. 

11.4 If the Information Officer fails to give a decision within the applicable period, the request is regarded as having been refused. 

12. REMEDIES 

12.1 There is no internal appeal against a decision of the Information Officer of a private body. 

12.2 A requester whose request has been refused, or a third party aggrieved by a decision to grant access, may: 

12.2.1 lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator in terms of section 77A of the Act, within 180 days of the decision; or 

12.2.2 apply to a court of competent jurisdiction in terms of section 78 of the Act. 

12.3 The same remedies apply in respect of a decision on the payment or amount of a fee, a decision to extend the period for a decision, and the form of access granted. 

13. PERSONAL INFORMATION and the Protection of Personal Information Act 

13.1 A data subject who wishes to exercise a right under the Protection of Personal Information Act, including the right to access, correct or delete personal information, or to object to processing, does so under the Company's Privacy Notice and the forms prescribed by the Regulations made under the Protection of Personal Information Act, and not by way of a request under this Manual. 

13.2 A request by a data subject for access to their own personal information is dealt with without charge. 

13.3 Where a request under the Act is in substance a request by a data subject for their own personal information, the Information Officer will deal with it under the Protection of Personal Information Act and will notify the requester accordingly. 

13.4 A data subject who is dissatisfied with the way the Company has handled personal information may complain to the Information Regulator at complaints.IR@justice.gov.za. That route is separate from the the Act complaint route in clause 12.2.1. 

13.5 The categories of personal information processed by the Company, the purposes of processing, and the recipients to whom it may be transferred, are set out in the Company's Privacy Notice. 

14. PRECEDENCE 

14.1 Nothing in this Manual limits or excludes any right or obligation conferred by the Act or by the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. Where any provision appears to do so, the statute governs and the provision is read down accordingly. 

14.2 A ground of refusal in Chapter 4 of Part 3 of the Act is not waived, narrowed or displaced by any contract, policy or undertaking to which the Company is party. 

14.3 As between the Company's compliance instruments, subject matter governs rather than rank. This Manual governs requests for access to records. The Protection of Personal Information Policy governs personal information, security, retention and disclosure. The Immigration and Right-to-Work Compliance Policy governs the right to work, site access and contractor obligations. The Privacy Notice is the notification given to data subjects under section 18 of the Protection of Personal Information Act and is not overridden by any contract as against a data subject. 

15. AVAILABILITY and REVIEW 

15.1 This Manual is available free of charge on the Company's website, at the Company's registered office during business hours, and from the Information Officer on request. The Manual need not be submitted to the Information Regulator and is provided to the Regulator on request. 

15.2 This Manual is available in English. The Company will provide reasonable assistance to a requester who requires it in another official language or in an alternative format. 

15.3 This Manual is reviewed annually and whenever the Company's records or operations change materially. 

ANNEXURE A: CATEGORIES OF RECORDS HELD 

The listing of a category of record does not mean that access to a record within it will be granted. Every request is considered on its own merits against the grounds of refusal in Annexure C. 

ANNEXURE B: REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO A RECORD 

Requests must be made on the form prescribed by the Regulations made under the Act. The prescribed form is obtainable from the Information Officer and from the Information Regulator's website at www.inforegulator.org.za. 

Reproduced from Form 2 of Annexure A to the Regulations Relating to the Promotion of Access to Information, 2021, published under GNR 757 in Government Gazette 45057 of 27 August 2021. A request must be made on a form that corresponds substantially with the prescribed form. The official form is also obtainable from the Information Officer and from the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za. 

Download Annexure B: Request for Access to a Record Form

ANNEXURE C: GROUNDS OF REFUSAL 

Chapter 4 of Part 3 of the Act, applicable to records of private bodies. 

ANNEXURE D: PRESCRIBED FEES 

Prescribed in Annexure B to the Regulations Relating to the Promotion of Access to Information, 2021, published under GNR 757 in Government Gazette 45057 of 27 August 2021. Value-added tax is added to each fee. These figures are prescribed and are verified against the Gazette as at 4 August 2026.