ATI Network Shadow Report 2016

The ATI Network Shadow Report 2016 analyzes the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in South Africa based on 369 requests made by civil society organizations between August 1, 2015, and July 31, 2016. The report highlights significant barriers to accessing information from both public and private bodies, including high refusal rates, failure to meet statutory timeframes, and the misuse of grounds for refusal.

• Between August 1, 2015, and July 31, 2016, 369 PAIA requests were made by members of the ATI Network, with 354 (96%) submitted to public bodies and 15 submitted to private bodies.
• Public bodies showed poor compliance with PAIA, with 46% of requests denied in full (either actively or via 'deemed refusal' where the request was ignored) and only 34% granted in full. Only 40.1% of requests to public bodies were responded to within the statutory time frame.
• Requests to private bodies also faced high refusal rates; 10 out of 15 requests were denied in full, and the most common reason for refusal was that records did not exist or could not be found under section 55.
• The most frequent ground for refusal by public bodies was section 23, stating that records do not exist or cannot be found, which the report suggests indicates poor record keeping or failure to perform statutory duties.
• Internal appeals against public body refusals are largely ineffective; 64.1% of the 64 appeals submitted were deemed dismissed because appellants received no decision, and only 28% of responses were received within statutory time frames.
• There is a positive trend toward automatic access to records under section 15 of PAIA, with the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) committing to make certain licenses and reports available without a formal PAIA request.
• The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is identified as resisting the trend of automatic disclosure and frequently ignoring internal appeals; the CER noted that over 30 appeals submitted to the DMR since 2010 were ignored until one was decided by the Minister on September 15, 2016.
• The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled on May 12, 2016, in Nova Property Group Holdings and others v Cobbett & Moneyweb that public access to shareholder registers is an unqualified right and that the motive for seeking access is irrelevant.
• The appointment of the Information Regulator on December 1, 2016, following the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI), is expected to provide a cost-effective alternative to court litigation for challenging PAIA refusals.
• The report recommends that public bodies be required to place all automatically available information on their websites and that sector-specific legislation be amended to mandate the disclosure of all authorizations, approvals, permits, and licenses.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2016). ATI Network Shadow Report 2016. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CER-Shadow-Report-Final.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. ATI Network Shadow Report 2016. 2016. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CER-Shadow-Report-Final.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=ATI Network Shadow Report 2016 |date=2016 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CER-Shadow-Report-Final.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2016ati, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{ATI Network Shadow Report 2016}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2016}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CER-Shadow-Report-Final.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }