PAIA manual.

What this manual is.

PAIA is short for the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000. Section 51 of PAIA says that every private body must have a manual.

The manual has to be available at the main place of business. The manual may also be published on a website. This page is our manual.

Smaller private bodies used to be exempt from this duty. That exemption ended on 31 December 2021. So a manual is required, and this is ours.

Who we are.

Trevern Technologies builds websites, AI and automation for companies and groups. We are based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Trevern Technologies is a sole proprietorship. There is no separate company behind the name. The responsible party is a person: Leo Liebenberg, trading as Trevern Technologies.

Section 1 of PAIA covers a natural person who carries on a trade. Such a person is a private body. So PAIA applies to us.

Email hello@trevern.com about anything on this page. You can also phone +27 69 154 0753. Our office hours are Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 · Sat 09:00–16:00.

Our street address and our postal address are the same: 1 Burton Road, Aurora, Durbanville, Cape Town, 7550, South Africa.

The Information Officer.

The Information Officer is Leo Liebenberg.

PAIA calls the person in charge of a private body the head. Here the head is the owner of the business. POPIA then makes that head the Information Officer. So the role sits with one named person, by law.

Send a PAIA request to the Information Officer. Email is the quickest route: hello@trevern.com. The phone number is +27 69 154 0753.

The Regulator’s guide to PAIA.

The Information Regulator (South Africa) has published a guide to PAIA. Section 10 of PAIA requires that guide. The guide explains how to use PAIA, in plain terms.

We do not host a copy of the guide. Ask the Regulator for a copy, or read the guide on the Regulator’s website: inforegulator.org.za.

The records we keep.

Below are the kinds of record we keep. The list is grouped by subject.

Client and project records. These cover work we do for a client. These records hold quotes, briefs, designs, website and automation files, and messages about the work.

Enquiry records. Someone sends us a message through this website, or by email. We keep that message and our reply.

Financial and tax records. These are invoices, receipts, bank records and tax returns.

Supplier records. These cover the services we buy to run the business. Hosting and email are two examples.

Website and system logs. These are technical records from the website and from the systems we run. A log shows requests, errors and security events.

A record on this list is not open to everyone. The rest of this manual explains how to ask, and when we may say no.

Records other laws make us keep.

We keep some records because a law says we must.

South African tax law requires the records behind a tax return. We keep those records for 5 years after the end of the tax year they relate to.

Ordinary business records are kept as well. Quotes, invoices and signed agreements are the usual ones.

Keeping a record does not make the record public. A request still follows the steps below.

How to ask for a record.

A request is made on the prescribed PAIA form. Section 53 of PAIA requires that form. The Regulator publishes the form on the Regulator’s website.

Send the completed form to the Information Officer. Email it to hello@trevern.com. A posted form works too, once a postal address is published above.

The form asks who you are, and how we can reach you. The form also asks which record you want.

Section 50 of PAIA sets the test for a record held by a private body. You have to show that the record is required to exercise or protect a right. So name the right, and say why the record is needed for that right.

A request without that explanation is hard to grant. Ask us if you are unsure what to write.

What a request costs.

The PAIA regulations set the fees for a request. We do not set those fees ourselves.

The prescribed amounts change from time to time. So this page prints no amounts. The Regulator publishes the current fees: inforegulator.org.za.

We will tell you in writing what is payable. We will do that before we start on the request.

What happens after you ask.

We read the request when the request arrives. Then we decide, and we tell you the decision.

Section 56 of PAIA sets the period for that decision. We answer you within the period PAIA allows.

We may grant the request in full. We may grant part of the request. We may also refuse the request.

A refusal is given to you in writing. The reasons are given in writing too.

When we may say no.

PAIA lists the grounds for refusing a request. Three of those grounds come up most often.

Another person’s privacy. Section 63 of PAIA protects personal information about someone else.

Commercial information. A trade secret or a confidential business term is an example.

Legally privileged material. Advice from an attorney is the common example.

We rely on a ground only where the ground fits. We also tell you which ground we relied on.

How to complain.

Unhappy with our decision? You can take the matter further.

The Information Regulator (South Africa) handles PAIA complaints. The Regulator took that role over from the South African Human Rights Commission on 1 July 2021.

Email the Regulator at PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za. You can also lodge a complaint on the Regulator’s portal: eservices.inforegulator.org.za/complaints/.

The Regulator’s address is Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191. The phone number is 010 023 5200. The toll-free number is 0800 017 160.

A requester may also take the matter to a court. That route stays open to you.

When this manual changes.

We update this manual when a fact in the manual changes. A new address is one example. A new kind of record is another.

The effective date at the top of the page moves with each update. The version on this page is the current one.

This document explains how we work. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace advice from your own attorney.