We respect your right of access to information. This document will help you exercise that right as required by section 51 of the Promotion to Access of Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA).

• Contents
• Dates
• Introduction
• Our details
• Further guidance
• Records we hold
• Company records
• Business records
• Financial records
• Insurance records
• Income tax records
• Personnel records
• Policies and directives
• Agreements or contracts
• Regulatory documents
• Published information
• Customer information
• Reference materials
• Information we hold to comply with the law
• How to request access
• Rule 13 Ethical Rules
• Grounds for refusal
• How we will give you access
• How much it will cost you
• How we process and protect personal information
• Categories of people
• Purposes
• Categories of personal information
• Third-party disclosures
• Cross-border transfers
• Security
• Remedies
• Availability of this Manual
• Updates to this Manual

1. Dates

Implementation Date: 18 August 2021

Review date: August 2023

Name of Department: POPIA team

Authors: Michalsons (www.michalsons.com)

Approved by: J Lemmer, S Swanepoel

• Date compiled: 12 January 2021
• Date revised: 8 June 2021

2. Introduction

The Ampath Group is one of Southern Africa’s foremost pathology laboratories and offers laboratory medicine services and this is our ‘Access to Information Manual’, which applies to us and our subsidiaries. Its purpose is to help you access our information and any other information that we have. PAIA requires us to make it available to you so that you:

• know what types of information we have; and
• how you can request access to it.



Our list of subsidiaries to which this Manual also applies are:

• The Ampath Trust, registration number: IT190/92;
• The Ampath Holdings Trust, registration number: IT3012/97;
• Drs Du Buisson, Kramer, Swart, Bouwer Incorporated, registration number: 2007/018337/21;
• Pathland Trust, with registration number: IT189/92;
• Prizetrade 30 (Pty) Ltd, registration number: 1996/004861/07;
• Ampath (Pty) Ltd, registration number: 1992/001898/07.

It is likely that you, the requestor, will engage with Drs Du Buisson, Kramer, Swart, Bouwer Incorporated being a medical laboratory practice registered at HPCSA/ SANC and specialising in diagnostic medical tests.

3. Our details

• Company name: Ampath Trust; Drs Du Buisson, Kramer, Swart, Bouwer Incorporated
• Registration number: IT190/92; 2007/018337/21
• Physical address: 166 Witch-Hazel Avenue
• Highveld Technopark
• Centurion
• Gauteng
• 0157
• Postal address: Private Bag X 9
• Centurion
• Gauteng
• 0067
• Phone number: 012 678-1000
• Fax number: +27 (12) 678 1726
• Information officer: Louis Gericke
• Information officer email: gerickel@ampath.co.za
• Deputy information officer: Jurie Lemmer
• Deputy information officer email: lemmerj@ampath.co.za
• Deputy information officer: Roelof Coetzee
• Deputy information officer email: coetzeer@ampath.co.za
• Enquiries email: paia@ampath.co.za
• Website: https://www.ampath.co.za/

4. Further guidance

If you would like further guidance on how you can get access to information under PAIA, you may contact the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to find out more information about PAIA. They have a guide in each official language of South Africa on how to exercise any right under PAIA. The guide is available here: Click here In terms of the Section 110 of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 the functions of the Human Rights Commission have been transferred to the Information Regulator. Their contact details are as follows:

• Postal address: P.O Box 3153, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017
• Physical address: JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
• Phone number: 010 023 5200
• Website: https://www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/index.html and http://www.sahrc.org.za/index.php/understanding-paia
• General e-mail: inforeg@justice.gov.za
• Complaints email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za

5. Records we hold

We hold the following subjects and categories of records:

5.1 Company records;

5.2 Business records;

5.3 Financial records;

5.4 Insurance records;

5.5 Income Tax records;

5.6 Personnel records;

5.7 Policies and directives;

5.8 Agreements or contracts;

5.9 Regulatory documents;

5.10 Published information;

5.11 Customer information; and

5.12 Reference materials.

Please note that records that are ‘not automatically available,’ must be requested using the process outlined in the ‘How to request access’ section of this manual.

5.1 Company records

Company records are all our records related to the incorporation and administration of our company. Some of them are available from the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).

5.2 Business records

Business records include any documents that have economic value to the business.

5.3 Financial records

Financial records are all our records related to our finances.

5.4 Insurance records

Insurance records are all our records related to our insurable assets

5.5 Income tax records

Income tax records are all our records related to our income tax obligations.

5.6 Personnel records

Personnel records are all our records about anyone who works for us, provides services to us, or provides services on our behalf and who receives or is entitled to receive remuneration, including our employees, contractors, and other personnel.

5.7 Policies and directives

Policies and directives include both internal and external documents.

5.8 Agreements or contracts

Agreements or contracts include the documents themselves and all related documents.

5.9 Regulatory documents

Regulatory documents include any documents required to comply with any laws.

5.10 Published information

Published information includes any document that we prepare and produce.

5.11 Customer information

Customer information includes any information about anyone that we provide goods or services to, including our customers, leads, or prospects.

5.12 Reference materials

Reference materials include any sources of information that we contribute to.

6. Information we hold to comply with the law

We hold records for the purposes of PAIA in terms of the following main laws, among others:

• Arbitration Act 42 of 1965;
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997;
• Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003;
• Children’s Act 38 of 2005;
• Companies Act 61 of 1973;
• Companies Act 71 of 2008;
• Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Disease Act 130 of 1993;
• Competition Act 89 of 1998;
• Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996;
• Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008;
• Copyright Act 98 of 1978;
• Customs and Excise Act, Act No. 91 of 1964;
• Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005
• Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002;
• Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998;
• Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001;
• Income Tax Act 58 of 1962;
• Insolvency Act, Act No. 24 of 1936;
• Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act, No 38 of 1997;
• Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act, No 28 of 2013;
• Health Professions Act 56 of 1974;
• Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995;
• National Credit Act 34 of 2005;
• National Environment Management Act 107 of 1998;
• National Health Act 61 of 2003;
• Nursing Act 33 of 2005;
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993;
• Prescription Act 18 of 1943;
• Prevention & Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004;
• Prevention of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist & Related Activities Act 33 of 2004;
• Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998;
• Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000;
• Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000;
• Promotion of Access to Information Act, No 2 of 2000;
• Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013;
• Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication related Information Act 70 of 2002;
• Skills Development Act 97 of 1998;
• Skills Development Levies Act 9 of 1999;
• South African Reserve Bank Act 90 of 1989;
• Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993;
• Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001;
• Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act 4 of 2002; and
• Value Added Tax Act 89 of 1991.

7. How to request access

We have authorised and designated our information officer to deal with all matters relating to PAIA in order to comply with our obligations in terms of PAIA. To request access to a record, please complete Form C which is available from:

• The Information Regulator website at https://www.justice.gov.za/forms/paia/J752_paia_Form%20C.pdf

Please submit the completed form to our information officer at the Ampath Group together with the relevant request fee (details here: http://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/PAIA%20Notice%20on%20fees.pdf) at our information officer’s email address, our physical address, or by fax in terms of our details provided above. Please ensure that the completed form:

• has enough information for the information officer to identify you, the requested records, and which form of access you require;
• specifies your email address, postal address, or fax number;
• describes the right that you seek to exercise or protect;
• explains why you need the requested record to exercise or protect that right;
• provides any other way you would like to be informed of our decision other than in writing; and
• provides proof of the capacity in which you are making the request if you are making it on behalf of someone else (we will decide whether this proof is satisfactory)

If you do not use the standard form we may:

• reject the request due to lack of procedural compliance;
• refuse it if you do not provide sufficient information; or
• delay it.

7.1 Rule 13 Ethical Rules

A practitioner must only make information regarding a patient available in terms of (1)(a) if there is a statutory provision in place; (b) by an order of court or (c) where it is in the public interest to do so.

In terms of subsection 2, information other than that referred to above, in subsection 1, will only be made available (a) with the express consent of the patient; (b) in the case of a minor under the age of 12 years, with the written consent of the parent or guardian; or (c) in the case of a deceased patient, with the written consent of the next-of-kin or the executor of such deceased patient’s estate.

8. Grounds for refusal

We may have to refuse you access to certain records in terms of PAIA to protect:

• someone else’s privacy;
• harm to someone else’s mental and/or physical health;
• another company’s commercial information;
• someone else’s confidential information;
• the safety of individuals and property;
• records privileged from production in legal proceedings; or
• research information.

We will notify you in writing whether your request has been approved or denied within 30 calendar days after we have received a completed request for access form. If we cannot find any requested record or it does not exist, then we will notify you by way of affidavit that it is not possible to give access to that particular record.

9. How we will give you access

We will evaluate and consider all requests to us in terms of PAIA. If we approve your request for access to our records, then we will decide how to provide access to you – unless you have asked for access in a specific form. Publication of this manual does not give rise to any rights to access information records, except in terms of PAIA.

10. How much it will cost you

You must pay us a request fee as required by law when submitting a request for access to information. The prescribed fees are as set out in the Fee Schedule which is available from http://www.sahrc.org.za/index.php/understanding-paia at this link: http://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/PAIA%20Notice%20on%20fees.pdf. The fees are required before we can hand over any information. You may have to pay a further access fee if we grant the request for any time that has exceeded the prescribed hours to search and prepare the record for disclosure.

11. How we process and protect personal information

We process the personal information of various categories of people for various purposes as set out in this clause.

11.1 Categories of people

We process the personal information of the following categories of people:

• customers or clients (doctors, patients, funders);
• prospects or leads;
• employees;
• recruiters and medical practitioners providing services related to employees;
• contractors, vendors, or suppliers;
• children and competent person/s;
• debtors and creditors;
• directors and shareholders.

11.2 Purposes

We process the personal information to:

• uphold good corporate governance;
• provide our goods or supply our services;
• better understand our data subjects’ needs when doing so;
• keep our data subject records up-to-date;
• manage employees in general;
• manage supplier contracts in general;
• manage customers (patients) in general;
• retain records;
• market to customers in various countries;
• enforce debts;
• process customer (patient) requests or complaints; and
• process personal information of employees for forensic purposes

11.3 Categories of personal information

We process many different categories of personal information, including:

• contact details, such as phone numbers, physical and postal addresses, and email addresses;
• personal details, such as names and ages;
• demographic details, such as races and age groups;
• health information;
• biometric information;
• account numbers;
• background information;
• contract information;
• credit information;
• market intelligence information;
• debt and debtor information.

11.4 Third-party disclosures

We give the following people personal information that we process in the ordinary course of business to fulfil our obligations to our customers or clients:

• contractors, vendors, or suppliers;
• agents, distributors, or other resellers;
• operators, other responsible parties, or co-responsible parties; and
• third party vendors (such as software developers) to help us maintain our services.

11.5 Cross-border transfers

We send personal information outside of South Africa to various countries. We will only transfer data to other countries who have similar privacy laws to South Africa’s, or recipients who can guarantee the protection of personal information to the same standard we must protect it.

11.6 Security

We secure data by maintaining reasonable measures to protect personal information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We also take reasonable steps to keep personal information accurate, current, complete, confidential and reliable for its intended use.

12. Remedies

If your request for access is denied, you may:

• apply to a court with appropriate jurisdiction, or
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator, for the necessary relief

13. Availability of this Manual

This manual is available in English and will be available on our website at http://www.ampath.co.za , and at our company offices.

14. Updates to this Manual

This manual will be updated whenever we make material changes to the current information.