PAIA Manual

The Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (“PAIA”) gives effect to the constitutional right of access to information. Section 51 requires every private body to publish a manual explaining what records it holds and how to ask for them.

This is that manual for Uju Cakes. It is available free on this page, and we will email or print a copy on request.

PAIA and POPIA are two sides of the same coin: PAIA is about getting access to information, POPIA is about protecting it. Our Privacy Policy covers the POPIA side.

• Name: Uju Cakes, a sole proprietorship
• Area: Centurion, Pretoria
• Telephone: [CONTACT NUMBER]
• Email: uju.cakes@gmail.com
• Information Officer: The Information Officer, Uju Cakes

All requests under PAIA must go to the Information Officer at the email address above.

The Information Regulator oversees both PAIA and POPIA, and you may complain to it about how we handled a request.

• Information Regulator (South Africa), JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
• PAIA complaints: PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• POPIA complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

The Regulator publishes a guide on how to use PAIA, in all official languages, under section 10 of the Act. It is available on the Regulator’s website, and we will point you to it on request.

We are a small bakery, so the list is short. We hold:

• Customer records: enquiries, quotes, order briefs, delivery details and correspondence.
• Financial records: invoices, proof of payment, bank records, and records kept for SARS.
• Statutory records: business registration and tax records.
• Supplier records: accounts and correspondence with ingredient and packaging suppliers.
• Recipes, costings and pricing: our own, and confidential.
• Website and marketing material: photographs of cakes we have made, and social media content.

Some of these records are also available without a PAIA request. If you are asking for your own order details, just email us and we will send them. You do not need to use this process.

Some records are accessible in terms of other laws without using PAIA, including under:

• The Companies Act 71 of 2008
• The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008
• The Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 and the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991
• The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
• The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013

Use the prescribed formrequests must be made on Form 2 of the PAIA Regulations, which is available from the Information Regulator’s website. We will send you a copy if you ask.

What the form must tell usenough detail to identify the record and to identify you; which form of access you want; an address or email for our reply; and, if you are asking on someone else’s behalf, proof that you are entitled to.

Say why you need itPAIA requires you to identify the right you are trying to exercise or protect, and to explain why the record is needed for it. A request that does not do this can be refused.

Where to send itto the Information Officer at uju.cakes@gmail.com.

Timingwe will decide within 30 days of receiving a complete request and tell you in writing. That period can be extended by up to a further 30 days where the request covers a large number of records, and we will tell you if it is.

Request feea request fee may be payable before we process a requester’s request, as prescribed in the PAIA Regulations. There is no request fee for a personal requester asking for their own information.

Access feeif we grant access, an access fee may be payable to cover searching for, reproducing and preparing the record, at the rates prescribed in the Regulations. We will tell you the amount before we do the work, and you may appeal it.

Current ratesthe prescribed fees change from time to time. We apply the rates in force under the PAIA Regulations at the time of your request rather than reproducing a figure here that may be out of date.

PAIA itself sets out when access must or may be refused. The grounds most likely to apply to us are:

• Protection of another person’s privacy (section 63): we will not hand over another customer’s details.
• Protection of commercial information of a third party (section 64), including a supplier’s pricing.
• Protection of our own confidential commercial information (section 68): our recipes, costings and pricing method.
• Records privileged from production in legal proceedings (section 67).
• Protection of research information (section 69).

If we refuse, we will tell you in writing, give our reasons, cite the section we relied on, and explain how to take it further.

A private body has no internal appeal process under PAIA. If we refuse your request, or you are unhappy with the fee or the delay, you may:

• Complain to the Information Regulator using its PAIA complaint process; or
• Apply to a court for appropriate relief under section 78 of PAIA.

You must generally do so within 180 days of our decision.

This manual is published on this page in English and is available free of charge. We will provide a copy by email or in print on request.

Last updated 8 September 2026. We review it when our records or contact details change.