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Request access to information

Request access to information

As a citizen of Cape Town, you have a constitutional right of access to information held by the City of Cape Town by formally requesting access to certain public records. According to section 10 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the Human Rights Commission must compile a guide containing information required from a person wishing to learn about their rights listed in the Act.

How to request information from the City of Cape Town

You can request information from any of the following public bodies:

  • Any department or national or provincial administration or municipality.
  • Any official or institution when they exercise a power or perform a duty in terms of the Constitution.
  • Any official or institution when they exercise a public power or perform a public function in terms of any laws.

The PAIA does not apply to requests for records held by the Cabinet or its committees, members of parliament or provincial legislature and a judge of the court or a special tribunal.

Access the guide on how to use the PAIA (English | Afrikaans | isiXhosa)

Step 1: Find out about your rights to information by reading the Section 14 Manual.

Section 14 of the PAIA states that a guide must be compiled informing the public of their right to information. The City  has produced the Section 14 Manual detailing the public’s right to information held by the City:

Access the full manual and annexures:

Information that does not require a request is available in the manual and on our website.

The manual may also be viewed at:

The City of Cape Town
Access to City Records Office
2nd Floor
Civic Centre
12 Hertzog Boulevard
Cape Town

Or

The National Library of South Africa
5 Queen Victoria Street
Cape Town

Telephone:
021 424 6320

Step 2: If you have difficulty understanding the manual, contact the Legal Services Department. They are responsible for allowing access to information. 

Telephone:
021 400 1360

Email:
access2info.act@capetown.gov.za.

Request access to a record

Please note

You cannot search for records if you are definitely going to begin a court case, or after one is begun. If you wish to take a matter to court you can only get records as part of the court proceedings.

You can, however, make a request on behalf of someone else. You will need to fill in their full name and identity number.

Once you have informed yourself of your rights and the guidelines around requesting information, you can lodge your request following the steps below.

Step 1: Obtain the Request for Access form from the document downloads below or from:

The Information Office
20th Floor
Civic Centre
Hertzog Boulevard
Cape Town

Step 2: Fill in the form. Ensure that you sign each page of the form, including extra pages you might have added, and state whether you require a copy of the record, or the original record.

Please note

If you are prevented by a disability, you may ask for the record to be provided in another form. For example, if you are hard of hearing, you can request that an audio record is transcribed.

Step 3: You can submit your request via post to:

Private Bag X918
Cape Town
8000

Alternatively, you can fax your submmision to 021 400 5830 or 086 202 9982 or send it via email to access2info.act@capetown.gov.za.

If you are delivering your submission by hand, then you must deliver it to:

20th Floor, Tower Block
Civic Centre
12 Hertzog Boulevard
Cape Town

The application form must be accompanied by the prescribed request fee of R35.

Accessing the record

Step 1: You will be notified in writing within 30 days of receipt whether your request has been approved or denied, unless the time period has been extended.

Step 2: Once the request has been granted, you must pay an access fee calculated by the search and preparation time, and the reproduction or the record, where applicable.

This fee is calculated by:

  • the time it takes to find the records;
  • the number of pages in the record; and
  • the cost of reproducing the record.

The first hour of searching is free.

If, after searching, the record can’t be found, is thought to be lost, or doesn’t exist, the Information Officer must inform you in an affidavit. 

The Information Officer may also give you the record with any information that, according to the Act, may not be disclosed absent from the document.

Make an appeal

If your request for access has been denied on grounds you consider insufficient, you may file an appeal following the process below.

You may make an appeal if:

  • your request for a record has been refused;
  • you were not given the record in the form you asked;
  • you are a third party who wants to appeal against the record being granted;
  • the search took longer than it should have;
  • the amount of fees charged was too high; and
  • the body is refusing to give you the form you requested.

Fill in the Notice of Internal Appeals form, which is included in your Request for Information form, and deliver, send, post, fax or email to the information officer or corporate deputy information officer you dealt with, within 60 days (or 30 days if notice to a third party is required) after the decision was taken.

Please note

A list of the City’s Deputy Information Officers and their contact details can be found in the Section 14 Manual.

If you have been unsuccessful in an internal appeal to the relevant authority of a public body, you may go to court to review that decision.

You can contact Legal Services on 021 400 1360 for more information. 

Annual report

We submit a report to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) annually, in respect of the access to information requests we have received under the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA).

Annual Report: April 2020 - March 2021

Contact us

The Information office

Telephone:
021 400 1360

Fax:
021 400 5831 / 086 202 9982

Email:
access2info.act@capetown.gov.za

Document downloads

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