Last updated: 12 October 2026
The Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) gives you the right to request a record held by Lema International Trading (Pty) Ltd (“Lema”) when you need it to exercise or protect a right (section 50). This page explains how to make that request under section 53 of PAIA. Our PAIA manual describes the subjects on which we hold records and the categories of records held on each, which will help you describe the record you want.
Requests about your own personal information
- If you only want to know whether we hold personal information about you, we confirm this free of charge once you have given us adequate proof of identity (Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), section 23(1)(a)).
- To receive the record of your personal information, or a description of it, use the same Form 2 process set out below. POPIA section 25 applies the PAIA request procedure to these requests.
- To correct or delete personal information we hold about you, see our privacy policy.
Use Form 2
A request must be made on Form 2, “Request for access to record”, prescribed by regulation 7 of the Regulations relating to the Promotion of Access to Information, 2021 (the PAIA Regulations). Form 2 replaced the older Form C in 2021.
Download Form 2 from the Information Regulator. The Regulator’s PAIA page also has its guide on how to use PAIA, in the official languages, and the complaint form mentioned below.
What the form asks for
Your details
Your full names, identity number, postal or street address, e-mail address and phone numbers. If you are requesting a record for another person or for a company, give the capacity in which you act (for example, attorney or director) and the details of the person or company you act for.
The record
A description of the record, or the part of it you want, with enough detail for us to find it. Add a reference number, dates or other particulars if you have them, and mark whether the record is written or printed, images, sound, or held electronically. If you need more space, continue on a separate page and sign every extra page.
Form and manner of access
Choose the form of the record: a printed copy, a transcription of images or sound, a copy on a flash drive or CD, or a copy saved to cloud storage. Then choose how you want to receive it: inspection at our premises, courier or post, fax, e-mail, or a cloud share or file transfer. You can name a preferred language. If the record is not held in that language, we may give access in the language in which it is held.
The right you want to exercise or protect
Name the right you want to exercise or protect, and explain why you need the record for it. PAIA gives access to a private body’s records only where the record is required for the exercise or protection of a right (sections 50(1)(a) and 53(2)(d)).
How we should tell you our decision
We reply in writing. Tell us whether you want our correspondence by e-mail, post or fax, and give the address or number to use. If you also want to hear our decision another way, for example by phone, say so and give the details (section 53(2)(e)).
Proof of identity and authority
Form 2 requires proof of identity, so attach a copy of your identity document, passport or other official identity document. If you act for someone else, attach proof that you are authorised, such as a signed letter of authority, a power of attorney or, for a company, a resolution (section 53(2)(f)). Sign and date the form.
Where to send your request
Address the form to the Information Officer, Lema International Trading (Pty) Ltd, and send it:
- by e-mail to [email protected], with “PAIA request” in the subject line; or
- by hand or courier to 28 Raft Street, Laser Park, Honeydew, Johannesburg, 2170.
Our information officer must help you make a request (regulation 7(2) of the PAIA Regulations). If you cannot complete the form because of illiteracy or a disability, phone us on +27 11 794 2024 and make your request orally. We will complete Form 2 for you and give you a copy.
Fees
Request fee
The request fee is R140 (item 1 of Annexure B to the PAIA Regulations), and every requester pays it (PAIA section 54(1) and regulation 7(3)). When we receive your form, we send you a notice of the fee with payment details, and we process your request once it is paid. No fee is payable if you only ask us to confirm whether we hold personal information about you (POPIA section 23(1)(a)).
Access fee and deposit
If we grant access, you pay an access fee for reproducing the record (for example, R2 per A4 page) and for search and preparation time after the first hour (R145 an hour, up to R435), plus the actual cost of postage or electronic transfer. If we expect search and preparation to take more than six hours, we ask for a deposit of up to one third of the access fee before we continue (section 54(2) and regulation 8(3)). We refund the deposit if we refuse the request (section 54(4)), and we may keep the record until the fees are paid (section 54(5)). The full schedule is on our page on the outcome of a request and fees payable.
How long it takes
- We decide and tell you our decision within 30 days of receiving your request, or of receiving any details missing from it (section 56(1)).
- We may extend that period once, by up to 30 days, if the request covers a large number of records, needs records from an office in another town or city, or needs consultation that cannot be finished in time, or if you agree to the extension in writing (section 57(1)). We tell you about any extension within the first 30 days, with its length, our reasons and your right to complain about it (section 57(2) and (3)).
- If the record concerns a third party’s personal, commercial, confidential or research information, we must tell that party about your request within 21 days and give them 21 days to make representations or consent (sections 71 and 72). We then decide within 30 days after the third party has been told (section 73).
If we do not reply in time
If we do not give you our decision within the time allowed, your request is regarded as refused (section 58). You can then use the remedies set out below.
Our decision
We tell you the outcome and any fees on Form 3 (regulation 8 of the PAIA Regulations).
- If we grant your request, our notice states the access fee, the form of access, and how to complain about either (section 56(2)). We give access in the form you reasonably require (section 60).
- If we refuse your request, our notice gives our reasons and the sections of PAIA we rely on, without describing the content of the record (section 56(3)). We may refuse only on a ground in Part 3, Chapter 4 of PAIA: protecting another person’s privacy, a third party’s commercial, confidential or research information, the safety of individuals or property, legally privileged records, or our own commercial or research information (sections 63 to 69).
- Where only part of a record may be refused, we give you the rest (section 59). Some grounds for refusal fall away if the record would reveal a substantial breach of the law or an imminent and serious public safety or environmental risk, and the public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs the harm (section 70).
- If we cannot find a record, or it does not exist, we tell you so by affidavit, with a full account of the steps we took to find it (section 55). This counts as a refusal.
If you disagree with our decision
Complaint to the Information Regulator
You may complain to the Information Regulator within 180 days of our decision if we refuse your request, including a refusal under section 58, or if you disagree with a fee or deposit, an extension of time or the form of access (section 77A(2)(d)). Use Form 5 (regulation 10 of the PAIA Regulations), available on the Regulator’s PAIA page, and e-mail it to [email protected].
Application to court
You may apply to court for appropriate relief within 180 days, but only after you have exhausted the complaint procedure with the Information Regulator (sections 78(1)(b) and 78(2)(d)).