Mandatory protection of privacy of third party who is natural person
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the information officer of a public body must refuse a request for access to a record of the body if its disclosure would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about a third party, including a deceased individual.
(2) A record may not be refused in terms of subsection (1) insofar as it consists of information— (a) about an individual who has consented in terms of section 48 or otherwise in writing to its disclosure to the requester concerned; (b) that was given to the public body by the individual to whom it relates and the individual was informed by or on behalf of the public body, before it is given, that the information belongs to a class of information that would or might be made available to the public; (c) already publicly available; (d) about an individual’s physical or mental health, or well-being, who is under the care of the requester and who is— (i) under the age of 18 years; or (ii) incapable of understanding the nature of the request, and if giving access would be in the individuals best interests; (e) about an individual who is deceased and the requester is— (i) the individuals next of kin; or (ii) making the request with the written consent of the individuals next of kin; or (f) about an individual who is or was an official of a public body and which relates to the position or functions of the individual, including, but not limited to— (i) the fact that the individual is or was an official of that public body; (ii) the title, work address, work phone number and other similar particulars of the individual; (iii) the classification, salary scale, remuneration and responsibilities of the position held or services performed by the individual; and (iv) the name of the individual on a record prepared by the individual in the course of employment.
What this means in practice
- A public body must refuse access that would unreasonably reveal a third party's personal information — the public-body twin of s.63, and the clearest PAIA/POPIA overlap.
- The same exceptions apply: consent, already-public information, and the position/functions of public officials (name, title, work contacts, remuneration band).
PopiGuard helps apply the s.34 privacy test consistently and keep PAIA and POPIA decisions aligned.