PAIA Manual
Draft pending legal review. Placeholders in [brackets] will be completed before this document takes effect.
Last updated 30 September 2026
This manual is published by [BEESWORX LEGAL NAME] (Reg. No. [BEESWORX REGISTRATION NO.]) ("Beesworx"), the operator of Forge, under section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 ("PAIA") and in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"). It explains what records Beesworx holds and how to ask for access to them. [ATTORNEY TO CONFIRM WHETHER BEESWORX IS EXEMPT FROM THE SECTION 51 REQUIREMENT UNDER THE CURRENT MINISTERIAL EXEMPTION NOTICE; THIS MANUAL IS PUBLISHED EITHER WAY AS GOOD PRACTICE].
1. Contact details
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Company | [BEESWORX LEGAL NAME] |
| Registration number | [BEESWORX REGISTRATION NO.] |
| Information Officer | [INFORMATION OFFICER NAME AND TITLE] |
| Deputy Information Officer | [DEPUTY INFORMATION OFFICER NAME, IF ANY] |
| [INFORMATION OFFICER E-MAIL] | |
| Telephone | [INFORMATION OFFICER TELEPHONE] |
| Physical address | [BEESWORX REGISTERED ADDRESS] |
| Postal address | [BEESWORX POSTAL ADDRESS] |
| Website | https://forgeserver.app |
The Information Officer is registered with the Information Regulator [REGISTRATION REFERENCE AND DATE, ONCE REGISTERED].
2. The Information Regulator's guide
The Information Regulator publishes a guide on how to use PAIA and POPIA to exercise your rights. It is available from the Information Regulator's website (https://inforegulator.org.za) and on request from the Regulator, in the official languages. Enquiries to the Information Regulator: [INFORMATION REGULATOR CONTACT DETAILS, ATTORNEY TO CONFIRM CURRENT ADDRESS, E-MAIL AND TELEPHONE].
3. Records available without a request
The following are published and can be read or downloaded without a PAIA request:
- the Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, Anti-Spam Policy, Privacy Policy, Security Statement, Data Processing Agreement and its sub-operator list, Intellectual Property Guidelines, Recruitment Privacy Notice and this manual;
- product and service information on forgeserver.app; and
- account holders' own records (their organisation's resources, audit log, invoices and data export) through the Forge dashboard, to the extent their role allows.
4. Records kept under other legislation
Beesworx keeps records as required by legislation including the following. Where a record is available under that legislation, it is available on the terms that legislation sets. [ATTORNEY TO CONFIRM AND COMPLETE THIS LIST].
- Companies Act 71 of 2008
- Income Tax Act 58 of 1962
- Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991
- Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011
- Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
- Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995
- Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998
- Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001
- Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993
- Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002
- Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008
- Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013
5. Categories of records held
| Subject | Records |
|---|---|
| Company | Incorporation documents, share register, minutes and resolutions, statutory returns |
| Finance and tax | Financial statements, accounting records, invoices, tax and VAT records, bank records |
| Personnel | Employment contracts, payroll, leave and performance records, recruitment records (see the Recruitment Privacy Notice) |
| Customers | Account and organisation records, contracts and accepted terms, billing and subscription records, support correspondence, beta access requests |
| Platform operations | Audit logs, request and application logs, usage metering, backups, security incident records, abuse reports and take-down notices |
| Suppliers | Contracts and correspondence with sub-operators and other suppliers |
| Intellectual property | Source code, trade mark records, licences |
Customer data hosted on Forge. Beesworx hosts databases, files and applications for its customers as their operator under POPIA. Those records belong to the customer, who is the responsible party. If you want access to personal information held in an application or service that runs on Forge, please direct your request to the business that operates it. We will refer requests we receive for such records to the relevant customer where we can identify them.
6. Processing of personal information
Purposes. Beesworx processes personal information to provide and bill for Forge, secure it and prevent abuse, support customers, recruit and employ staff, meet legal obligations, and run the business. The Privacy Policy gives the detail for platform users.
Categories of data subjects and information.
| Data subjects | Personal information |
|---|---|
| Customers and their team members | Names, e-mail addresses, organisation and role, authentication and session records (including IP addresses), billing details, support correspondence, audit records |
| People requesting beta access | Names, e-mail addresses, company, stated use |
| Website visitors | IP address and browser details, in server logs and when fonts load |
| Employees, contractors and candidates | Identity and contact details, employment and payroll records, application material |
| Suppliers | Contact persons' names and contact details, bank details |
| End users of customers' applications | Whatever the customer's application stores, processed as operator only |
Recipients. Sub-operators listed in the sub-operator list; professional advisers; banks and payment providers; and regulators and law enforcement where the law requires.
Cross-border transfers. Some sub-operators are outside South Africa. The sub-operator list names them and the POPIA section 72 basis for each transfer.
Security measures. Described in the Security Statement and the Data Processing Agreement.
7. How to request access
- Complete the prescribed request form for a private body (Form 2 under the PAIA Regulations), available from the Information Regulator's website or from our Information Officer.
- Send it to the Information Officer at the contact details in section 1. Give enough detail for us to identify the record and yourself, say how you want access (for example, a copy by e-mail), and state the right you are exercising or protecting and why the record is needed for it.
- If you are asking on behalf of someone else, include proof of your authority.
- Pay any prescribed request fee and, if we grant access, any prescribed access fee. We will tell you if a deposit is required. [PRESCRIBED FEES, ATTORNEY TO CONFIRM CURRENT AMOUNTS UNDER THE PAIA REGULATIONS].
We will decide on your request within 30 days of receiving it, and may extend that once by up to 30 days where PAIA allows, telling you why.
A request for your own personal information under POPIA section 23 can be made to the Information Officer in the same way.
8. Grounds for refusal
Beesworx may, and in some cases must, refuse access on the grounds set out in Chapter 4 of Part 3 of PAIA, including to protect: the privacy of a third party who is a natural person; commercial information of a third party or of Beesworx; confidential information of a third party; the safety of individuals and property; records privileged from production in legal proceedings; and research information. We will give reasons for any refusal.
9. Remedies
PAIA provides no internal appeal against a decision of a private body. If you are not satisfied with our decision, you may complain to the Information Regulator within 180 days, or apply to court.
10. Availability of this manual
This manual is available at https://forgeserver.app/legal/paia.html and from the Information Officer on request, free of charge. We will update it when the information in it changes.