The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 stipulates that every person has the right of access to information held by government. To give effect to this right, legislation in the form of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2000 (2 of 2000) (POAIA) was promulgated. The mere existence of a legislative framework regulating aspects such as the nature of the right, administrative matters, legitimate limitations and enforcement mechanisms does not mean that the right of access to information will automatically be fulfilled in the way that the drafters of the Act envisaged. The success of the access to information regime will be determined by the manner in which the POAIA is implemented in practice. This article explores a number of prerequisites that are considered necessary for the successful implementation of the POAIA.