At long last the main provisions of POPIA (the Protection of Personal Information Act) have been gazetted, and they will commence on 1 July 2020. That means that the one-year transitional period will expire on 30 June 2021.
Don’t panic just yet and ignore the many “fake headlines” in the media implying that you are at immediate risk of non-compliance, but at the same time don’t leave this to the last minute! Preparing for compliance is going to be a time-consuming affair, almost all South African businesses will need to comply, and the penalties for not doing so will be very severe indeed…
