We're deprived of valuable information

Rights activists are celebrating Wednesday's decision by the Cape Town High Court which opens the door to the disclosure of the sources of political party funding.

The high court, following an application by civil society body My Vote Counts, has ordered parliament to amend the Promotion of Access to Information Act within 18 months to oblige political parties to show who has been writing them cheques.

Hooray, let's pop the champagne for this victory for transparency and accountability. Not so fast.

While the decision by the high court is a step in the right direction, a picture of the future can be painted by a glimpse back into the recent past.

In 2016, in preparing for litigation, My Vote Counts submitted access to information applications to all 13 parties. Only four responses were received despite, we must point out, the law providing strict time frames for how these requests are supposed to be managed.

And that, essentially, is the story of where the access to information law in South Africa is right now. It is largely ignored.

The South African Human Rights Commission, which is tasked with overseeing compliance with access to information, paints a dismal picture in its latest available report on the subject - which is, ironically, now two years old but is supposed to be produced annually.

The report shows some 80% of municipalities simply don't bother to comply. National departments and other state entities aren't much better.

So, any change to the act will be largely meaningless unless those who are supposed to make access to information for citizens a reality actually view it as a constitutional obligation rather than an irritation which can be easily ignored.