PAIA and POPIA Manual
Our manual in terms of section 51 of PAIA, as amended by POPIA, including how to request access to records.
1Introduction
1.1This Manual constitutes the Company PAIA manual.
1.2This Manual is compiled in accordance with section 51 of PAIA as amended by the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 ("POPIA"). POPIA promotes the protection of personal information processed by public and private bodies, including certain conditions so as to establish minimum requirements for the processing of personal information. POPIA amends certain provisions of PAIA, balancing the need for access to information against the need to ensure the protection of personal information by providing for the establishment of an Information Regulator to exercise certain powers and perform certain duties and functions in terms of POPIA and PAIA, providing for the issuing of codes of conduct and providing for the rights of persons regarding unsolicited electronic communications and automated decision making in order to regulate the flow of personal information and to provide for matters concerned therewith.
1.3This PAIA manual also includes information on the submission of objections to the processing of personal information and requests to delete or destroy personal information or records thereof in terms of POPIA.
1.4For purposes of this Manual, we refer to ourselves as "The Company", "we"," us" or "our".
2Who Are We - About Us And Our Business
2.1JER 31 and Associates Recoveries (Pty) Ltd. is a registered debt collector.
3Our Contact Details
3.1All requests for access to records in terms of the Act for The Company must be in writing and must be addressed to the Information Officer, at the contact details below;
Information Officer: Deon van As
Postal Address: 2 Long Street, 12th floor, Cape Town, 8000
Street Address: 2 Long Street, 12th floor, Cape Town, 8000
Contact number: 010 054 7983
Email address: enquiries@jerlegal.co.za
4PAIA Guide
4.1In order to assist those who are not familiar with PAIA or POPIA, a Guide that contains information to assist you in understanding how to exercise your rights under PAIA ("the Guide") is available in all the South African official languages.
4.2If you have any queries, or need a copy of the Guide, please contact the Information Regulator directly at:
The Information Regulator (South Africa)
Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Johannesburg, 2191
Email: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
5Information That Is Automatically Available Without A PAIA Request
5.1The information available on our website, may be automatically accessed by you without having to go through the formal PAIA request process.
6Records Kept In Terms Of The Other Legislation
6.1We are subject to many laws and regulations, some of which require us to keep certain records.
6.2These laws are detailed in Appendix E attached hereto:
6.3Note that the list is not exhaustive.
7Description Of Subjects We Hold Records On And Categories Of Records
7.1Described below are the records which we hold, divided into categories for ease of reference:
Client Records:
- Contractual records;
- Financial and transactional records;
- Services rendered records;
- Records provided by a third party;
- Records generated within the Company relating to its clients;
- Records provided by a client to a third party acting for or on behalf of the Company;
- Correspondence records.
Human Resources and Employee Records:
- Personal records (provided by personnel);
- Third party records relating to personnel;
- Training records;
- Contractual agreements;
- Labour relations records;
- Employment history records;
- Performance records;
- Medical insurance records;
- Remuneration and benefits records;
- Employment Equity records;
- Correspondence records.
8Information Related to POPIA
8.1Requests for personal information under POPIA must be made in accordance with the provisions of PAIA. This process is outlined in paragraph 9 below
8.2If we provide you with your personal information, you have the right to request the correction, deletion or destruction of your personal information, in the prescribed form. You may also object to the processing of your personal information in the prescribed form.
8.3We have attached the prescribed forms to this Manual for your convenience.
8.4We will give you a written estimate of the fee for providing you with your personal information, before providing you with the services. We may also require you to provide us with a deposit for all or part of the fee prior to giving you the requested personal information.
8.5Purpose of processing
8.5.1POPIA provides that personal information may only be processed lawfully and in a reasonable manner that does not infringe your (the data subject's) privacy.
8.5.2The type of personal information that we process will depend on the purpose for which it is collected.
8.5.3We may use, transfer, share and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:
- to provide debt collection services to our client;
- to enrich the accuracy and quality of our data;
- to conduct business case analysis;
- to perform tracing;
- to perform credit and client reporting;
- to conduct JER's recruitment exercises, including the capturing of a job applicant's details and the providing of status updates to such a job applicant;
- maintain and update our customer databases;
- to provide customer support and resolve customer queries;
- to protect our rights in any litigation;
- detect, prevent or deal with actual or alleged fraud, security or the abuse, misuse or unauthorised use of the Website and/or contravention of this Privacy Notice or any of the terms and conditions that apply to the use of the Website;
- communicate with you and keep a record of our communications with you and your communications with us;
- inform you about any changes to the Website, the Privacy Notice or other changes which are relevant; and
- to comply with statutory obligations and regulatory authorities;
- for any other purposes relevant to our business activities, provided they are lawful.
8.6Personal information that is processed include:
8.6.1Names, surname, contact details, physical and postal addresses, employment details, title, marital status, date of birth, ID/Passport number, banking details, nationality, gender, confidential correspondence; credit records, account/transactional/financial information;
8.7Categories of recipients for purposes of processing personal information
8.7.1We may supply personal information to these potential recipients:
8.7.1.1Our clients;
8.7.1.2Our employees;
8.7.1.3Third parties acting on our behalf.
8.7.2We may disclose personal information we collected to other entities in the group, our agents and sub-contractors and selected third parties, including credit providers, credit bureaus and service providers who process the information on our behalf for the purposes as set-out in 8.5.3 above.
8.7.3We endeavour to enter into written agreements to ensure that other parties comply with our confidentiality and privacy requirements. Personal information may also be disclosed where we have a legal duty or a legal right to do so.
8.8Actual or planned trans-border flows of personal information
8.8.1We may disclose personal information we collected to our shareholders, funders or third-party service providers, with whom we engage in business or whose services or products we elect to use, including cloud services hosted in international jurisdictions.
8.8.2We endeavour to enter into written agreements to ensure that other parties comply with our confidentiality and privacy requirements. Personal information may also be disclosed where we have a legal duty or a legal right to do so.
8.9General description of information security measures
8.9.1The Company employs appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to prevent loss of damage to or unauthorised destruction of personal information and unlawful access to or processing of personal information. These measures include
8.9.1.1Physical security;
8.9.1.2Computer and network security;
8.9.1.3Access to Personal Information;
8.9.1.4Secure communications;
8.9.1.5Security in contracting out activities or functions;
8.9.1.6Retention and disposal of personal information;
8.9.1.7Acceptable usage of Personal Information;
8.9.1.8Governance and regulatory issues;
8.9.1.9Investigating and reacting to security incidents.
9Request Procedure
9.1Completion of the prescribed form
9.1.1Any request for access to a record from a private body in terms of PAIA must substantially correspond with the form attached hereto marked Appendix A - FORM C - Request for access to record of private body (Section 53(1) of PAIA) [Regulation 10].
9.1.2A request for access to information which does not comply with the formalities as prescribed by PAIA will be returned to you.
9.2Payment of the prescribed fees
9.2.1A Fee may be payable, depending on the type of information requested, as described under Appendix B - Fees in respect of private bodies.
9.2.2There are two categories of fees which are payable:
9.2.2.1The request fee: R50
9.2.2.2The access fee: This is calculated by taking into account reproduction costs, search and preparation costs, as well as postal costs.
9.2.3Section 54 of PAIA entitles The Company to levy a charge or to request a fee to enable it to recover the cost of processing a request and providing access to records. The fees that may be charged are set out in Regulation 9(2)(c) promulgated under PAIA.
9.2.4Where a decision to grant a request has been taken, the record will not be disclosed until the necessary fees have been paid in full.
9.2.5POPIA provides that a data subject may, upon proof of identity, request The Company to confirm, free of charge, all the information it holds about the data subject and may request access to such information, including information about the identity of third parties who have or have had access to such information.
9.2.6POPIA also provides that where the data subject is required to pay a fee for services provided to him/her, The Company must provide the data subject with a written estimate of the payable amount before providing the service and may require that the data subject pays a deposit for all or part of the fee.
10Objection
10.1POPIA provides that a data subject may object, at any time, to the processing of personal information by The Company, on reasonable grounds relating to his/her particular situation, unless legislation provides for such processing. The data subject must complete the prescribed form attached hereto as Appendix C - FORM 1 - Objection to the processing of personal information in terms of section 11(3) of POPIA Regulations relating to the protection of personal information, 2018 [Regulation 2] and submit it to the Information Officer at the postal or physical address, facsimile number or electronic mail address set out above.
11Correction
11.1A data subject may also request The Company to correct or delete personal information about the data subject in its possession or under its control that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading or obtained unlawfully; or destroy or delete a record of personal information about the data subject that The Company is no longer authorised to retain records in terms of POPIA's retention and restriction of records provisions.
11.2A data subject that wishes to request a correction or deletion of personal information or the destruction or deletion of a record of personal information must submit a request to the Information Officer at the postal or physical address, facsimile number or electronic mail address set out above on the form attached hereto as Appendix D - FORM 2 - Request for correction or deletion of personal information or destroying or deletion of record of personal information in terms of section 24(1) of POPIA's Regulations relating to the protection of personal information, 2018 [Regulation 3].
12Proof Of Identity
12.1Proof of identity is required to authenticate your identity and the request. You will, in addition to this prescribed form, be required to submit acceptable proof of identity such as a certified copy of your identity document or other legal forms of identity.
13Timelines For Consideration Of A Request For Access
13.1Requests will be processed within 30 (thirty) days, unless the request contains considerations that are of such a nature that an extension of the time limit is needed.
13.2Should an extension be required, you will be notified, together with reasons explaining why the extension is necessary.
14Grounds For Refusal Of Access And Protection Of Information
14.1There are various grounds upon which a request for access to a record may be refused. These grounds include:
14.1.1the protection of personal information of a third person (who is a natural person) from unreasonable disclosure;
14.1.2the protection of commercial information of a third party (for example: trade secrets; financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that may harm the commercial or financial interests of a third party);
14.1.3if disclosure would result in the breach of a duty of confidence owed to a third party;
14.1.4if disclosure would jeopardise the safety of an individual or prejudice or impair certain property rights of a third person;
14.1.5if the record was produced during legal proceedings, unless that legal privilege has been waived;
14.1.6if the record contains trade secrets, financial or sensitive information or any information that would put The Company at a disadvantage in negotiations or prejudice it in commercial competition; and/or
14.1.7if the record contains information about research being carried out or about to be carried out on behalf of a third party or by The Company.
14.2Section 70 of PAIA contains an overriding provision. Disclosure of a record is compulsory if it would reveal (i) a substantial contravention of, or failure to comply with the law; or (ii) there is an imminent and serious public safety or environmental risk; and (iii) the public interest in the disclosure of the record in question clearly outweighs the harm contemplated by its disclosure.
14.3If the request for access to information affects a third party, then such third party must first be informed within 21 (twenty one) days of receipt of the request. The third party would then have a further 21 (twenty one) days to make representations and/or submissions regarding the granting of access to the record.
15Remedies Available To A Requester On Refusal Of Access
15.1If the Information Officer decides to grant a requester access to the particular record, such access must be granted within 30 (thirty) days of being informed of the decision.
15.2There is an appeal procedure that may be followed after a request to access information has been refused, which will be described in the correspondence addressed to you by the Information Officer.
15.3In the event that you are not satisfied with the outcome of the appeal, you are entitled to apply to the Information Regulator or a court of competent jurisdiction to take the matter further.
15.4Where a third party is affected by the request for access and the Information Officer has decided to grant you access to the record, the third party has 30 (thirty) days in which to appeal the decision in a court of competent jurisdiction. If no appeal has been lodged by the third party within 30 (thirty) days, you must be granted access to the record.
16Availability Of This Manual
16.1Copies of this Manual are available for inspection, free of charge, at the registered offices of The Company at the address listed above
16.2Copies will also be made available on the Company website/s.
17Appendix B: Fees in respect of private bodies
1. The “request fee” payable by a requester, other than a personal requester, referred to in section 54(1) of the Act, is R50.
2. The “fees for reproduction” referred to in section 52(3) and “access fees” payable by a requester referred to in section 54(7), unless exempted under section 54(8) of the Act, are as follows:
| (a) | For every photocopy of an A4-size page or part thereof | R1 – R10 |
| (b) | For every printed copy of an A4-size page or part thereof held on a computer or in electronic or machine-readable form | R0 – R75 |
| (c) | For a copy in a computer-readable form on: (i) stiffy disc | R7 – R50 |
| (ii) compact disc | R70 | |
| (d) | (i) For a transcription of visual images, for an A4-size page or part thereof | R40 |
| (ii) For a copy of visual images | R60 | |
| (e) | (i) For transcription of an audio record, for an A4-size page or part thereof | R20 |
| (ii) For a copy of an audio record | R30 | |
| (f) | To search for the record for disclosure, for each hour or part of an hour reasonably required for such search | R30 |
The actual postal fee is payable when a copy of a record must be posted to a requester.
Exemptions from paying “access fees”
Person or persons exempted from paying access fees:
- A single person whose annual income does not exceed R14,712.00; or
- Married persons or a person and his/her life partner whose annual income does not exceed R27,192.00.
18Appendix E: Table of legislation
Records are kept in accordance with such other legislation as is applicable to The Company, which includes but is not limited to the following:
- National Credit Act 34 of 2005; and
- Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998.
19Prescribed forms (Appendices A, C and D)
The following prescribed forms form part of this Manual. Download the full Manual, including the forms, complete the relevant form and submit it to the Information Officer using the contact details in section 3.
- Appendix A – Form C: Request for access to record of private body (Section 53(1) of PAIA) [Regulation 10]
- Appendix C – Form 1: Objection to the processing of personal information in terms of section 11(3) of POPIA [Regulation 2]
- Appendix D – Form 2: Request for correction or deletion of personal information or destroying or deletion of record of personal information in terms of section 24(1) of POPIA [Regulation 3]