Page 6 - Fourways Gardens August 2021

Estate News

What’s the Big

Deal aBout PoPi

anD Your

Business?

It was a cool day on 1 July 2021. The global news

channels were still dominated by the COVID
pandemic, Butter by BTS was the top of the
global charts and the POPI ACT came into effect

in South Africa.

he transition period is officially
over and businesses in SA are
now subject to the conditions of
Tthe act, meaning that how and
what information you store is now liable
to audit! There is the threat of fines for not
adhering to the act but, in the main, the
POPI act is there to ensure all companies
treat our personal information with the
respect and care it deserves.

This is all good and well, but what does it
mean? Well, it means that you and your
company have more than a little work to
do. Most corporates have dedicated teams
allocated to ensuring their compliance is
reached. But the majority of companies in
South Africa do not have that luxury and
the responsibility falls on the owners and
managers.

If you or your team have been avoiding the Information Regulator. This deadline
this exercise, or you aren’t sure if your team was 30 June 2021. Due to the volume of
has completed your POPI registration, all registrations, this has been moved out,
is not lost. We can sort this out in a few to allow the authority staff to organise
simple steps. themselves.
Let’s begin.
Next, the organisation needs to conduct
a. Stage 1 (immediate and overdue) a ‘Personal Information Impact Assessment’
All companies (with a very few exceptions) (PIIA) which must be uploaded to the
are required to appoint an Information Regulator within 30 days of Registration.
Officer (the Responsible Party). In the Finally, the company must upload a
absence of doing this, the Owner or CEO copy of the organisation’s PAIA manual
is deemed to be the ‘Responsible Party.’ (Promotion of Access to Information)
Then the team must register the company and its Privacy Policy/Statement onto the
and the Information Officer’s details with website for public access.

Fourways Gardens • 4 • August 2021