INTRODUCTION

On 7 September 2016, the National Assembly voted in favour of appointing the former IEC chairperson Advocate Pansy Tlakula as the chairperson of the newly-formed Information Regulator in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act, Act 4 of 2013 (“POPI Act”).

The National Assembly also recommended Advocate Lebogang Stroom and Johannes Weapond as fulltime members and Professor Tana Pistorius and Siswe Snail as part-time members of Information Regulator Board.

The appointment of Advocate Tlakula and the board is still to be approved by President Jacob Zuma.

The powers and functions of the Information Regulator also extend to the Promotion of Access to Information Act and the Information Regulator will report directly to Parliament.

THE POPI ACT

The POPI Act governs the manner in which personal information is collected, stored, used, disseminated and deleted and will bring South Africa in line with the international standards for the lawful processing of personal information by South African organisations, foreign companies and individuals who process personal information.

The Information Regulator’s primary tasks are to provide guidance on the conditions of the POPI Act, education, monitoring and enforcement of compliance with the POPI Act.

CONCLUSION

The recommendation of the Advocate Tlakula and the board brings South Africa one step closer to the full implementation of the POPI Act.