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C. Organisations that work on access to information
that work on access to information in South Africa The Access To Information Network
The ATI Network is a network of civil society organisations that co-operate to achieve the common objective of advancing access to information rights for ordinary people in South Africa.
Access to information is a right which is protected by our Constitution. There is also a whole piece of legislation dedicated to helping ordinary people access information from the state and the private sector – this legislation is called the Promotion of Access to Information Act – or PAIA.
Every year, the ATI Network releases a Shadow Report, which tracks requests for information made in terms of PAIA by members of the ATI Network, and summarises the legislation and litigation impacting on freedom of information in South Africa. ATI Network member organisations include: Africa Check, amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane), Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), Corruption Watch (CW), Equal Education Law Centre (EELC), Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC), Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism (Oxpeckers), Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM), Right2Know Campaign (R2K), South African History Archive (SAHA) and Wits Justice Project.
Link: Access to Information Network
Shadow Report 2018
by the Access to Information Network
Since 2009 the ATN has produced a yearly “Shadow Report”, which researches the outcomes of civil society and media use of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). The most recent, the 9th Shadow Report, covers the period from 2017 – 2018. This was released in October 2019.
The 9th Shadow Report shows a worrying decline in the number of PAIA applications over the past few years. Only 198 applications for release of information under PAIA were made in 2017- 2018; a drop of over half from the 408 applications submitted in 2015 – 2016.
Most PAIA applications (88%; 169 requests) were addressed to government departments. Of these, only 48% - 69 requests - were given some or all of the information requested (only 46 received the full information requested). Seventy-six PAIA requests were ignored until beyond the deadline for response; or refused.
The ATI Network concludes this decline is a direct result of the failure of government and private entities to comply with PAIA regulations. Increasingly, civil society and community structures see PAIA requests as a waste of time and resources.
