The long-awaited amended Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) has been signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The law compels political parties to disclose their private funding information.

A Constitutional Court judgment in 2018 had found parts of the PAIA Act were not in line with legal requirements. The Concourt had ruled that Parliament amend the act so that the private funding information of political parties could be made public. It’s been much anticipated since.

Rights group ‘My Vote Counts’ had brought the case. The DA and the EFF were among parties that did not support the amendment.

News24 reports other bills signed into law by President Ramaphosa were the amendment to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate Act, which gives Parliament the powers to oversee the suspension, discipline and removal of the head of Ipid, and the amendments to the Child Justice Amendment Act, which will see the increase of the criminal capacity of a child from 10 to 12 years.

Umm Muhammed Umar