The Information Regulator of South Africa was nominated and has been elected to serve as a member of the executive committee of the International Conference for Information Commissioners (ICIC).

The ICIC is a global forum that connects regulatory authorities responsible for the protection and promotion of the right of access to information in order to improve transparency and accountability to the benefit of everyone.

South Africa’s Information Regulator, alongside other access to information regulatory bodies from Argentina, Bangladesh and Bermuda, was elected at the fourteenth edition of the ICIC, held in the Philippines, where information commissions and right-to-information regulatory authorities from across the world were represented.

“The election of the regulator to the executive committee of the ICIC is yet another feather in the cap in recognition of the regulator’s regional and global role as a champion of the right of access to information,” said Information Regulator chairperson Advocate Pansy Tlakula following the election of the regulator to the executive committee.

Tlakula, who serves as chairperson of continental body, the African Network of Information Commissions, led the delegation of African information commissions to the Philippines at the conference in June.

She moderated sessions and led discussions on the promotion of access to information and accountability in the digital era.

“One of the focus areas is the digital platforms having to take responsibility for combating fake news, which can undermine the rights of access to information.”

Under the theme ‘Access to information as a response to the modern challenges of democracy’, the 2023 ICIC event held discussions centred on catapulting the process of developing right-to-information laws in countries that have not implemented this human right, as well as a workshop for the regulatory bodies curated to assist them to improve the implementation of the right of access to information.

“We are pleased at being able to continue to contribute to the work of the ICIC. We hope that through our contribution we will be able to bring more countries from the African continent to be members of this great organisation,” Tlakula concluded.