PAIA Manual

This is the manual that the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2 of 2000 (“PAIA”) requires Lowerland (Pty) Ltd to publish. PAIA gives you a right of access to records held by a private body where you need that record to exercise or protect a right. This manual tells you what records we hold, how to ask for one, what it costs, and what to do if we say no. It is published here as a web page so that anyone can read it without needing to download anything.

If what you want is your own personal information — a copy of it, a correction, or its deletion — you do not need PAIA. Use our data request page, which is quicker and free.

At a glance

1. Our details

2. The Information Regulator’s guide on how to use PAIA

Section 10 of PAIA requires the Information Regulator to publish a plain-language guide explaining how to use the Act. That guide is available from the Information Regulator, in each official language, and is published on its website at inforegulator.org.za. It is not written by us, and we recommend it if this is your first request.

3. Records available without a formal request

Some of our records are already public and you do not need to make a PAIA request for them. These include our product information, prices, terms and policies, all published on this website, and our company information filed with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.

We have not published a notice under section 52(2) of PAIA listing further categories of records that are automatically available.

4. Records held under other legislation

We keep records because other laws require us to. Listing them here does not mean they are available on request — it tells you what exists. The main ones are:

• Companies Act, 71 of 2008
• Tax Administration Act, 28 of 2011
• Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962
• Value-Added Tax Act, 89 of 1991
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 75 of 1997, and the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995
• Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 130 of 1993
• Unemployment Insurance Act, 63 of 2001
• Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013
• Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008
• Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002
• National Liquor Act, 59 of 2003, and the liquor legislation applicable in the Northern Cape
• Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 54 of 1972, and regulations made under it
• Agricultural Product Standards Act, 119 of 1990
• Occupational Health and Safety Act, 85 of 1993

5. The records we hold

Section 51(1)(e) of PAIA requires us to describe the subjects on which we hold records and the categories of records held on each subject.

Subject	Categories of records
Company and governance	Registration documents, memorandum of incorporation, shareholder and director records, resolutions, statutory registers
Financial and tax	Annual financial statements, management accounts, ledgers, invoices, bank records, VAT and income tax returns, payroll records
Customers and orders	Customer accounts and contact details, orders, delivery records, tax invoices, correspondence, complaints and claims, age verification records for wine sales
Employees	Contracts of employment, personnel files, payroll and leave records, disciplinary records, health and safety records, training records
Suppliers and service providers	Contracts, purchase orders, invoices, courier and logistics records, operator agreements
Farming and production	Planting, harvest, milling and livestock records, input and traceability records, batch and packing records, food safety and hygiene records
Licensing and compliance	Liquor licence and correspondence with the licensing authority, food safety certifications, permits, regulatory inspections
Insurance	Policies, schedules and claims
Website and marketing	Website content, product photography, analytics reports, product feed data
Information technology	System configuration, access records, security logs, backups

6. How to request a record

1. Complete the prescribed request form published by the Information Regulator for requests to a private body, available on its website.
2. Send it to our Information Officer at alette@lowerland.co.za, or by post to Posbus 292, Prieska, 8940.
3. Give enough detail for us to identify the record and to identify you, and tell us how you would like to receive it.
4. State which right you are seeking to exercise or protect, and explain why the record is required for that purpose. PAIA requires this, and a request that does not say it must be refused.
5. Pay the prescribed request fee, where one applies. We will tell you the amount and how to pay.
6. If you are asking on behalf of someone else, attach proof that you are authorised to do so.

If you cannot read or write, or have a disability that prevents you completing the form, you may make the request orally to our Information Officer, who will write it down for you and give you a copy.

What happens next

We must decide within 30 days of receiving your request and tell you the outcome in writing. That period may be extended by a further 30 days where the request is for a large number of records or requires a search through records held elsewhere; if we extend it, we will tell you why and you may complain about the extension. If we grant access, we will tell you the access fee payable and give you the record once it is paid.

7. Fees

PAIA allows a private body to charge two kinds of fee, both set by regulation and not by us:

• A request fee, payable when you lodge the request, before we consider it.
• An access fee, payable before the record is handed over, covering reproduction, search and preparation time, and postage where applicable. Where searching and preparing the record will take more than the prescribed number of hours, we may ask for a deposit first.

The amounts are those prescribed in the regulations made under PAIA and published by the Information Regulator, as amended from time to time. We will quote you the current amount in writing before you incur it, and we will not charge more than the prescribed tariff.

No fee is payable for a request for your own personal information. Use our data request page instead.

8. When we may refuse

PAIA obliges us to refuse access in some cases and permits it in others. The main grounds are:

• Privacy of a third party — where disclosure would unreasonably reveal personal information about someone else.
• Commercial information of a third party — trade secrets, financial or commercial information whose disclosure would harm them, or information supplied in confidence.
• Confidential information — where disclosure would breach a duty of confidence owed to another person.
• Safety of individuals, and protection of property.
• Legal privilege — records privileged in legal proceedings.
• Our own commercial information — our trade secrets, and information whose disclosure would put us at a disadvantage in negotiations or in commercial competition.
• Research information — of ours or of a third party, where disclosure would expose the research or the researcher to serious disadvantage.

Access must nevertheless be granted where the public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs the harm, as set out in the Act. Where only part of a record may be refused, we will give you the rest. If we refuse, we will tell you in writing which ground we relied on and what you can do about it.

9. If you are unhappy with our decision

There is no internal appeal against the decision of a private body. If we refuse your request, fail to answer within the time allowed, or you dispute the fee, you may:

• Complain to the Information Regulator, using its complaint form, at inforegulator.org.za; or
• Apply to a court for appropriate relief.

10. Personal information we process

PAIA, as amended, requires this manual to describe the personal information we process. In summary, we process the personal information of customers, prospective customers, employees, suppliers and service providers, for the purposes of selling and delivering our products, employing people, running the business, and meeting our tax, accounting, food safety and liquor licensing obligations.

The categories of information, the recipients it is shared with, the countries it may be sent to, our retention periods, and the safeguards we apply are set out in full in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of this manual.

11. Availability of this manual

This manual is available free of charge on this website, and for inspection at our farm during business hours. We will email a copy on request, and post one at the prescribed reproduction fee. It is available in English.

12. Updates

We review this manual when our business or the law changes. The version published on this page is the current one.