President signs the Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Act
On 3 June 2020, the Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Act 31 of 2019 (PAIA Amendment Act), was published after being assented to by the President on 26 May 2020. The PAIA Amendment Act provides for information on the private funding of political parties and independent candidates to be recorded, preserved, and made available
Section 52A of the PAIA Amendment Act now requires the head of a political party to create and keep records of any donation exceeding the prescribed threshold that has been made to that political party in any given financial year, including records of the identity of the persons or entities who made such donations. The head of the political party must make these records available quarterly and keep the records for at least five years after the records concerned have been created.
This amendment comes after the 2018 ruling of the Constitutional Court in My Vote Counts NPC v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and Another [2018] ZACC 17 which declared that information on the private funding of political parties and independent candidates is essential for the effective exercise of the right to make political choices and to participate in the elections. The Constitutional Court declared that information on private funding of political parties and independent candidates must be recorded, preserved, and made reasonably accessible.
The PAIA Amendment Act will come into operation on a date to be determined by the President.
The Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Act can be downloaded here.
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