This submission on the draft Regulations published for comment by the Information Regulator in terms of section 112(2) of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) is made jointly by the Press Council of South Africa (Press Council), the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF), Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane)

This submission focuses on the impact and application of the provisions of the draft Regulations on the media, particularly in the light of the express journalistic exclusion contained in section 7 of POPIA. The Press Council, SANEF, MMA and amaBhungane believe in independent co-regulation of the media, involving exclusively representatives of the media and representatives of the public, as it is our firm view that any other form of regulation would threaten the independence of the media.