South Africa adopts comprehensive privacy law

A law heavily influenced by the EU draft DP Regulation and European DP tradition. Pamela Stein reports.

After eight years of deliberations and numerous reviews, South Africa’s first comprehensive data protection law, the Protection of Personal Information Bill (POPI), was finally approved by Parliament in August 2013 and gazetted and signed into law on 28 November. The date of commencement has yet to be declared by President, Jacob Zuma. Once POPI is in force, organisations will have a transitional period of one year to ensure compliance with POPI before its provisions take effect.

A full version of this article will be published in PL&B International Report in December.  

Pamela Stein and Dario Milo, Partners at Johannesburg law firm, Webber Wentzel, will speak on South Africa’s new Protection of Personal Information law at the Privacy Laws & Business 27th Annual International Conference "New Horizons - New Risks" at Queens' College, Cambridge, 30th June - 2nd July 2014.