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June 21 2017

South Africa's first DPA

Africa's third-largest economy passed its Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act in 2013, but the data protection law is not yet fully operational.
 
The country's Information Regulator is currently drafting its procedural rules for things like handling complaints about privacy violations, and mapping out its future committees for education and outreach, enforcement, and dispute resolution. And local legal professionals are sceptical about how well-resourced it will be. It's budget allocation in the current financial year is just 10 million Rand (roughly $770,000), although that will rise to 25 million Rand in the next financial year.
 
The country passed its data protection law in 2013, but it won't be fully operational until the regulator is as well.