‘third party’, in relation to a request for access to(a)
a record of a public body, means any person (including, but not limited to, the government of a
foreign state, an international organisation or an organ of that government or organisation) other
than-
(i)
the requester concerned; and
(ii)
a public body; or
(b)
a record of a private body, means any person (including, but not limited to, a public body) other than
the requester, but, for the purposes of sections 34 and 63, the reference to 'person' in paragraphs (a)
and (b) must be construed as a reference to ’natural person’;
‘this Act’ includes any regulation made and in force in terms of section 92;
‘transfer’, in relation to a record, means transfer in terms of section 20 (1) or (2), and 'transferred' has a
corresponding meaning;
‘working days’ means any days other than Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays, as defined in section 1
of the Public Holidays Act, 1994 (Act 36 of 1994).
2
Interpretation of Act
(1) When interpreting a provision of this Act, every court must prefer any reasonable interpretation of the
provision that is consistent with the objects of this Act over any alternative interpretation that is
inconsistent with those objects.
(2) Section 12 must not be construed as excluding(a)
the Cabinet and its committees; or
(b)
an individual member of Parliament or of a provincial legislature,
from the operation of the definition of ‘requester’ in relation to a private body in section I, section 49 and
all other provisions of this Act related thereto.
(3)
For the purposes of this Act, the South African Revenue Service, established by section 2 of the
South African Revenue Service Act, 1997 (Act 34 of 1997), and referred to in section 35 (1), is a
public body.
CHAPTER 2
GENERAL APPLICATION PROVISIONS (ss 3-8)
3
Act applies to record whenever it came into existence
This Act applies to(a)
a record of a public body; and
(b)
a record of a private body, regardless of when the record came into existence.
4
Records held by official or independant contractor of public or private body
For the purposes of this Act, but subject to section 12, a record in the possession or under the control of-