Section 74
Right of internal appeal to relevant authority
Part 4 · Appeals Against Decisions · Chapter 1 — Internal Appeals Against Decisions of Information Officers of Certain Public Bodies
(1) A requester may lodge an internal appeal against a decision of the information officer of a public body referred to in paragraph (a) of the “public body” in section 1— (a) to refuse a request for access; or (b) taken in terms of section 22, 26(1) or 29(3), in relation to that requester with the relevant authority.
(2) A third party may lodge an internal appeal against a decision of the information officer of a public body referred to in paragraph (a) of the “public body” in section 1 to grant a request for access.
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
- Internal appeal is the first remedy against a national or provincial public body's decision — available to a dissatisfied requester, or to a third party objecting to a grant.
- It runs to the body's 'relevant authority' (e.g. the responsible Minister or MEC), not the information officer who made the decision.
Relevant tool
PopiGuard helps public bodies handle internal appeals correctly — routing, timelines and reasons — before they escalate.