Section 12 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) provides that personal information must generally be collected directly from the person it relates to. The section reads as follows:
“12. Collection directly from data subject.—
(1) Personal information must be collected directly from the data subject, except as otherwise provided for in subsection (2).
(2) It is not necessary to comply with subsection (1) if—
(a) the information is contained in or derived from a public record or has deliberately been made public by the data subject;
(b) the data subject or a competent person where the data subject is a child has consented to the collection of the information from another source;
(c) collection of the information from another source would not prejudice a legitimate interest of the data subject;
(d) collection of the information from another source is necessary—
(i) to avoid prejudice to the maintenance of the law by any public body, including the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution and punishment of offences;
(ii) to comply with an obligation imposed by law or to enforce legislation concerning the collection of revenue as defined in section 1 of the South African Revenue Service Act, 1997 (Act No. 34 of 1997);
(iii) for the conduct of proceedings in any court or tribunal that have commenced or are reasonably contemplated;
(iv) in the interests of national security; or
(v) to maintain the legitimate interests of the responsible party or of a third party to whom the information is supplied;
(e) compliance would prejudice a lawful purpose of the collection; or
(f) compliance is not reasonably practicable in the circumstances of the particular case.”