17 August 1998

Mr Ben Kali
Secretary to the Committee

Dear Sir

We are pleased to extend our congratulations to the drafters of the Open
Democracy Bill, as a document aimed at entrenching and giving effect to the
privacy rights of the constitution.

We are particularly pleased at the progress made on the Bill in reaching a
balance between the interests of society and business, and the cognisance
taken of the legitimate needs and practicalities of the business sector.

We encourage the National Council of Provinces and National Assembly to
build positively on the progress made to date, and not countenance any
pressure to revert to impractical or unrealistic privacy measures.
Intentional precedent has been clearly established, especially as it relates
to the right to object to the use or disclosure of personal information.
These precedents have been proven to effectively and efficiently protect the
rights of both the individual and the business sector, and should be
entrenched in our body of law.

It is, however, of concern that a Bill entrenching government transparency
refers many issues to regulation, with no requirement to consult with the
private sector bodies that will be directly or indirectly impacted by the
Regulations. In this regard we strongly urge that this be addressed, and
that the process of drafting regulation be subject to consultation with
those private bodies that will be affected by the Regulations.

Furthermore, whilst we may have concerns regarding the current capacity of
the Human Rights Commission to manage the Act as proposed, we note our
preference to utilising the infrastructure and services of that existing
body, as opposed to the creation of yet another revenue draining Commission
or Authority.

C.B. CHENERY
MANAGING DIRECTOR
TUPPERWARE SOUTHERN AFRICA