PAIA manual
Published under section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000. Version 2026.1
This manual is not finished
6 things still need a human answer, marked __TO BE COMPLETED__ below. They are facts about the business rather than about the software, so they are left blank rather than invented. Set them in the environment and they appear here. Have an attorney read this before relying on it.1. The body this manual belongs to
| Name | __TO BE COMPLETED__ |
|---|---|
| Registration number | __TO BE COMPLETED__ |
| Physical and postal address | __TO BE COMPLETED__ |
| Information Officer | __TO BE COMPLETED__ |
| Information Officer's email | __TO BE COMPLETED__ |
2. The Act, and the guide to it
The Promotion of Access to Information Act gives you a right of access to records held by a private body where you need them to exercise or protect a right. The South African Human Rights Commission has published a guide on how to use the Act. It is available from the Commission at sahrc.org.za, in each official language, free.
3. Records available without making a request
- Everything held about an applicant's own account and applications, which they can download themselves from Your information at any time.
- The terms and the privacy notice on this site.
- This manual.
If you hold an account here, almost everything you would ask for is already a button: Your information → Download everything gives you your details, your documents, every application, which banks saw it, what each said, every permission you gave and every message we sent you. You do not need to make a PAIA request for your own record.
4. Records held, by subject and category
Applications for finance
- What an applicant asked for, the figures on it, and its progress
- The documents an applicant sent in support of it
- What was read from those documents and by what
- Which banks it was put to, when, and what each answered
- Permissions given and withdrawn, with the wording shown at the time
People who hold accounts
- Name, email address and mobile number
- Identity and income details given or read from documents
- Messages sent to them and questions they asked
Brokerages using the platform
- Company and contact details, users and their roles
- Lender accreditations and criteria recorded by them
- Invoices, commission records and subscription history
The business itself
- Company registration, tax and statutory records
- Employment records
- Agreements with banks, brokerages and suppliers
5. Records held under other laws
Records are also kept under, among others: the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, the National Credit Act, the Protection of Personal Information Act, the Companies Act, the Income Tax Act, the Value-Added Tax Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act.
6. How to request a record
- Use the prescribed form (Form C under the PAIA Regulations), available from the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.
- Send it to the Information Officer at the address above.
- Say enough about the record for us to find it, say which right you are exercising or protecting and how the record helps, and say how you want to be answered.
- Pay the prescribed request fee where one applies. We will tell you what it is before you have to pay anything, and we will tell you if an access fee is payable before we hand anything over.
- We must decide within 30 days and tell you the outcome and your right to appeal. That period can be extended once, and if it is we will tell you why.
7. When we may refuse
The Act obliges or allows a refusal in several cases, including where the record contains somebody else's personal information, where it is commercially confidential information of a third party, where it would breach a duty of confidence, where it would prejudice someone in legal proceedings, or where the request is manifestly frivolous. If we refuse we will say so in writing, say which part of the Act we rely on, and tell you what you can do next.
8. Your own personal information
If what you want is your own information rather than a record about something else, the Protection of Personal Information Act is the quicker route — section 23 gives you the right to be told what is held and to be given a record of it. On this platform that is the download button described above, and it takes minutes rather than thirty days.
9. Keeping this manual current
It is reviewed at least once a year and whenever what we hold changes materially. It is published here and available for inspection at the address above during business hours.