| (1) |
The Director and every other member of the Office must, upon taking office, take an oath or make an affirmation in the form specified in subsection (3). |
| (a) |
The Director must take the oath or make the affirmation referred to in subsection (1) before the Director-General. |
| (b) |
Any other member of the Office must take the oath or make the affirmation referred to in subsection (1) before the Director. |
| (3) |
For the purposes of this section the oath or affirmation must be in the following form: |
" 'I, A B, hereby declare under oath/solemnly affirm that I understand and shall honour the obligation of confidentiality imposed upon me by or under the provisions of the Witness Protection Act, 1998, and shall not act in contravention thereof.' "
| (4) |
No person shall disclose any information which he or she has acquired in the exercise of the powers, performance of the functions or carrying out of the duties conferred upon, assigned to or imposed upon him or her by or under this Act, or in the course of the performance of any functions relating to the provisions of this Act, except— |
| (a) |
for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Act; |
| (b) |
when required to do so by any competent court; |
| (c) |
if he or she is authorised thereto by the Minister; or |
| (d) |
in terms of subsection (5). |
| (5) |
The Director may, subject to subsection (6), and after consideration of any representations referred to in that subsection, on such conditions as he or she deems fit, disclose any information in respect of a protected person— |
| (i) |
the protected person concerned; or |
| (ii) |
his or her parent or guardian, if he or she is a minor; |
| (b) |
if the protected person has previously disclosed such information or acted in a manner which resulted in such disclosure; |
| (i) |
is required for the exercise or protection of any rights; |
| (ii) |
is required for the compilation of a voter's role; or |
| (iii) |
is in the public interest; or |
| (d) |
in any criminal proceedings if the disclosure is necessary to establish the guilt or the innocence of a person: Provided that the Director may not disclose any information in respect of a minor referred to in the proviso to section 12(1) without the prior approval of a judge in chambers. |
| (a) |
The Director must, before he or she discloses any information in respect of a protected person in the circumstances referred to in subsection (5)(b), (c) or (d), take reasonable steps to notify— |
| (i) |
the protected person; or |
| (ii) |
the parent or guardian of the protected person, if he or she is a minor, |
in the prescribed manner of the contemplated disclosure and must allow the protected person or, where applicable, his or her parent or guardian, to make written representations to him or her within the prescribed period and in the prescribed manner in relation to any matter regarding such disclosure.
| (b) |
The provisions of paragraph (a) do not apply if the Director is of the opinion that such notification may jeopardise the purpose for which the information is to be disclosed. |
| (7) |
The Director must, in determining whether information in respect of a protected person should be disclosed as contemplated in subsection (5), take into account— |
| (a) |
the reasons for the disclosure; |
| (b) |
the probability that the disclosure may endanger the safety of the protected person concerned or that of any other protected person or the integrity of a witness protection programme under this Act; |
| (c) |
whether the need for the disclosure can effectively be met by any other means; |
| (d) |
whether there are effective means available to prevent any further disclosure of the information; and |
| (e) |
any other factor that, in the opinion of the Director, should be taken into account. |
| (8) |
No person shall disclose any information referred to in subsection (4)— |
| (i) |
came into his or her possession; or |
| (ii) |
to his or her knowledge was disclosed to him or her, |
in contravention of the provisions of that subsection; or
| (b) |
if he or she ought to have reasonably suspected that such information was disclosed to him or her in contravention of the provisions of that subsection. |
| (9) |
Notwithstanding any other law, no person in respect of whom proceedings are, or may be, or have been instituted or conducted, or who is a suspect in such proceedings, shall have access to any information, record, document or statement relating to the proceedings concerned, including any information, record, document or statement which is contained in, or forms part of, a police docket or is held by any police official charged with the investigation relating to such proceedings, which may disclose any information referred to in section 18 , unless the Director otherwise directs. |
Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997
