Freedom of Information (5) Any information provided to an applicant in terms of this Act shall be presumed to be true and accurate in every respect and the applicant shall be entitled to rely on and use it on that basis. (6) Subject to subsection (5) when an information officer produces an updated or corrected version of any information previously provided, all other previous versions of such information shall cease to be presumed true and accurate in every respect. (7) Where the information requested contains third party information, the applicant may not be given access to such information until any right of the third party to appeal the release of the information has expired or until any appeal lodged by the third party has been finally determined in terms of section 40. 5 10 (8) Notwithstanding subsection (7), an information officer officer may, as soon as possible, provide information to an applicant after having severed and redacted all relevant third party information in accordance with section 14: Provided that such third party information is immaterial to the information being requested. 15 (9) If a request is refused, the notification referred to in subsection (1) or (2) shall— state adequate reasons for the refusal, based on the contents and substance of the request and the information considered by the information officer; and (b) contain a reference to specific provisions of this Act upon which the refusal is based; and (c) inform the applicant of the right to appeal against the decision in terms of section 35. (a) (10) If upon considering a request for access to information that is the subject of the request in terms of subsection (2), the responsible person or holder of a statutory office does not consider that the information requested reasonably appears to be necessary to safeguard the life or liberty of a person, he or she shall, within forty-eight hours of the submission of the request for access— (a) notify the applicant accordingly; and (b) inform the applicant that he or she has the right to appeal the decision on an urgent basis to the Commission in terms of section 36(5). (11) Subject to subsection (1) where any part of the information requested can be provided within the period specified under subsection (1), an information officer shall respond as soon as possible with respect to the available information. 9 20 25 30 35 Extension of time (1) Subject to subsection (2), an information officer to whom a request is made in terms of section 8(1) may, within the initial twenty-one days, seek the consent of the applicant for an extension of time for a period not exceeding fourteen days if— (a) the request is for a large amount of information or requires a search through a large amount of information and meeting the original time limit would unduly interfere with the operations of the entity concerned; or (b) consultations that cannot reasonably be completed within twenty-one days are necessary to comply with the request. (2) Where an applicant is of the view that the seeking of consent to extend time by the principal officer is merely dilatory, or the information officer does not obtain the consent of the applicant for the extension, the applicant or the information officer, as the case may be, may lodge an appeal with the Commission in terms of section 35. 8 40 45