Reminder to get your manual from the IEASA for submission by end of August.



Principals - have you submitted your Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) Manual to the SA Human Rights Commission? If not, the latest deadline is 31 August 2005. It has already been extended several times since the original deadline, which was a couple of years ago, and we have no reason to think that it will be extended again. As a "private body", your estate agency - even if it's a one-person home-based business - must give members of the public access to its records on request, provided the requester can show that he or she needs access to exercise or protect his or her rights. Procedures, application forms, and fees have been laid down by the government. Your firm is required to produce a manual which identifies it, lists the records which it holds, and outlines the access procedure. You must have a copy available at your office, and submit a copy to the SA Human Rights Commission. If you have a website, you can also publish it there. Originally, manuals also had to be published in the Government Gazette, but that idea proved unworkable and was scrapped. If you haven't compiled your manual yet, you have slightly less than two months left in which to do so. To help our members, we have produced a model manual which can be customised to each firm's specific requirements. The price is R100 for IEA members and R200 for non-members. To buy a copy, phone your local reigional offices of the IEASA