Information Officer Services
The POPI Act / POPIA has contained a requirement for the appointment of an Information Officer since it was signed into law in 2013 within the context of assigning Accountability (Condition 1 in the Act) for implementing and maintaining compliance measures.
The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) of 2000 also has a requirement for an Information Officer to be appointed.
The POPI Act / POPIA states that the Information Officer is the Designated Head but does not provide any guidance in this regard. There are differences between a private body and a public body regarding the appointment of the Information Officer which need to be considered, these being defined in PAIA. The differences are:
- In a public body, the Information Officer is the head of that body. In a national department, the Information Officer is the Director General or equivalent official. For example, in a municipality, it is the Municipal manager and in a State Owned Company (SOC), it is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO);
- In a private body, the Information Officer is the head of the organisation i.e. the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Managing Director or in a smaller organisation, the owner of the business.
Accountability for the Information Officer role cannot be delegated but a Deputy Information Officer (or Officers) can be formally appointed to carry out the responsibilities of the Information Officer.
In summary both POPIA and PAIA laws require an Information Officer to be appointed in all organisations. Experience is showing us that many organisations don’t have the skills or capacity to comply with the Information Officer requirements.
IACT-Africa has, therefore, introduced the services described below to assist organisations facing these challenges. Please see the descriptions of our service below:
Information Officer Support Service
This service is designed to provide support to organisations who have an Information Officer or are building this capability. Please click here for an overview of the Information Officer Support Service.
Please contact us for more information about our Information Officer services.