20/10/2026
As South Africa prepares for the 2026 Local Government Elections, the Information Regulator has today hosted Mr. Pietro Tesfamariam, Media Expert, and Mr. Alex Matus, Political Expert, from the European Union Electoral Expert Mission to South Africa.
The mission is gathering information on the electoral process and assessing South Africa’s national electoral legal framework, including its implementation in light of the international and regional commitments undertaken by the Republic.
The Information Regulator was identified as a stakeholder in recognition of its mandate to regulate the protection of personal information and promote the right to access information.
At the center of the engagement was a question of institutional responsiveness: how can mechanisms be strengthened to ensure that information rights remain protected when demand for access to information increases during an election period?
Electoral periods can add additional requirements to the institutions that provide information and those that protect personal information.
The timeliness of responses to requests for information, and the responsible management of personal information, continue to be important matters to ensure that individuals can exercise their rights.
The Regulator’s mandate to promote the right of access to information and to monitor compliance with the lawful processing of personal information are inter-linked, both requiring institutions to have the right processes in place to meet their legal obligations. The discussion thus centred on the mechanisms available to improve turnaround times during the election period with the hope of ensuring that the rights to access information and privacy continue to receive the required protection.
The engagement also highlighted the importance of the work of the Information Regulator in the wider institutional and legal environment within which electoral processes occur.
