Section 27
Deemed refusal of request
Part 2 · Access to Records of Public Bodies · Chapter 3 — Manner of Access
If an information officer fails to give the decision on a request for access to the requester concerned within the period contemplated in section 25(1), the information officer is, for the purposes of this Act, regarded as having refused the request.
Source: SAFLII — Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (consolidated, updated 11 October 2024) — cross-checked verbatim before publishing.
Beyond the text
What this means in practice
- Silence is a decision: missing the s.25 deadline is deemed a refusal, opening the requester's appeal and court rights with none of the body's reasons on record.
- Managing the clock is the whole game — a deemed refusal is the worst outcome for a public body.
Relevant tool
PopiGuard's deadline tracking exists to stop requests lapsing into deemed refusals.