Toward a Culture of Transparency: Public Rights of Access to Official Records in South Africa

Abstract

This essay's point of departure is that the public's right of access to official records and its right to place the processes of government under scrutiny are defining characteristics of democracy. An examination of official secrecy in apartheid South Africa establishes the context for an analysis of the country's restrictions on public access to official records at the dawn of a democratic era. While it is conceded that governments have a legitimate right to restrict access to certain information, it is argued that the restrictions in South Africa are weighted unreasonably against the public. At the same time, paradoxically, these restrictions do not provide adequate protection of certain legitimate interests--for instance, of individuals' personal privacy. Proposals are made for redefining the parameters of official secrecy.