Copyright | Western Cape Government

Copyright

The South African Constitution places a positive obligation on organs of state to disseminate public interest information held by the state as widely and cost-effectively as possible:

  • "Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible and accurate information." - Constitution of South Africa s195(g).
  • "Efficient, economic and effective use of resources must be promoted." - Constitution of South Africa s195(b).

We believe that the most cost-effective way of disseminating public interest state information is by allowing others to reproduce such material freely - as long as it is reproduced accurately. We therefore believe that conditional free licensing of state copyright in material promoting transparency is required by the Constitution.

Copyright Licence 

All material featured on the Western Cape Government website is subject to copyright in accordance with the Copyright Act of 1978. There is no copyright in:

  • Official texts of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, including their official translations.
  • Speeches of a political nature.
  • Speeches delivered in the course of legal proceedings.
  • News of the day, which is a mere item of press information.

You may freely reproduce this non-copyright material. You may reproduce written copyright material (except that belonging to third parties) on this website for non-commercial purposes in any format or media without obtaining permission. This is subject to the requirement that you reproduce the material accurately and not in a derogatory manner or misleading context.

Where you publish or issue this written material to others, you must acknowledge the source (including URL) and copyright status of the material.

You may also reproduce copyrighted written material on this website for commercial purposes, but you must first request and obtain permission for commercial use.

This licence to reproduce written material does not include copyright material that is identified as being owned by a third party (this will usually be indicated by the © symbol attached to the name of the copyright holder). You must obtain permission to reproduce such material from the relevant copyright holder.

You may not use photographs or other artistic works included on this website without the permission of the Western Cape Government.

Please contact service@westerncape.gov.za for queries about obtaining any of the permissions described in this licence.

The content on this page was last updated on 2 September 2016