@article{2017:calland:access_to_,
title = {Access to Information and Constitutional Accountability: Ruffling Feathers in South Africa},
year = {2017},
note = {Recent corruption scandals pivoting around South Africa’s President
Jacob Zuma have knocked much of the gloss off of the country’s rosy
constitutional face. But it’s democracy is proving to be resilient
in the face of severe challenges to public accountability and
transparency. Enshrined in its much-admired Constitution, the right of
access to information (ATI) is proving to be a valuable tool that
equips key users of the enabling legislation, the Promotion of Access
to Information Act 2000 (PAIA), such as investigative journalists or
opposition political parties to challenge those in power. While there
is a good deal of literature on ATI in South Africa, there is a dearth
of scholarly writing on the specific relationship between ATI/PAIA and
political accountability. This paper aims to help fill this gap and to
do so by use of empirical research that draws on the direct experience
of members of four categories of ‘PAIA protagonists’. The evidence
of some of the most prominent sets of users of access to information
law in South Africa suggests that while this may present itself as the
task of Sisyphus, the results can be politically as well as legally
significant, thereby justifying the investment in time and resources.
The research and analysis shows that the use of ATI law in South
Africa is certainly ruffling feathers and helping to inject additional
much-needed sharpness and vigour into the democratic process and to
entrenching a new culture of constitutional accountability.},
journal = {VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee},
pages = {367--389},
author = {Calland, Richard},
volume = {50},
number = {4}
}