Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital: records of deceased patient withheld from next of kin

My mother died at Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital. I made PAIA requests for my late mother's records. According to the Act (Promotion of Access to Information Act 2, 2000), Section 63, a record may not be refused insofar as it consists of information about an individual who is deceased and the requester is the next of kin.

Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital have not provided any grounds for refusal or an affidavit for the missing records, as per the requirements of the Act. I have approached the South African Human Rights Commission for assistance and laid a complaint with them. I contacted HASA (Hospital Association of South Africa) for assistance. They approached Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital to provide answers and assistance.

I then received a letter from Bowman Gilfillan, a legal firm acting on the instructions of Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital.

In this letter they confirmed that neither CBMH, nor any of the Netcare personnel or staff that I had been in contact with, would respond to my queries (or requests for documentation).

They also requested that I cease, forthwith, from contacting the CBMH, or any Netcare personnel.

Bowmans confirmed that Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital will cooperate with any SAPS (South African Police Service) investigations into my mother's death.

The withheld records were not provided, nor were grounds for withholding the records provided (as per the requirements of the Act). No affidavit regarding missing records was provided. No reason was provided as to why I am prohibited from contacting Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in this regard.

I submitted a further PAIA request for my late mother's records directly to Bowman Gilfillan but did not receive a reply.

In the preamble to PAIA it states that one of the goals of PAIA is to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public and private bodies. Why would a private hospital withhold some records from next of kin, without providing any grounds for refusal or an affidavit (as per the Act)? (***)