Defence Act, 2002 (Act No. 42 of 2002)Chapter 13 : General Administration and Support83. Protection of defence assets |
| 1) | The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, designate a mark to be applied to animals, equipment or articles to denote the ownership of the Department or any visiting force in such animals, equipment or articles. |
| 2) | No animal, equipment or article belonging to the Department or to any visiting force which bears a mark contemplated in subsection (1) may be seized or attached by or under any writ of execution which may be issued against any employee of the Department or any visiting force. |
| 3) | The entity known as the Department of Defence Archive Repository which existed immediately prior to the commencement of this Act continues to exist under this Act under the same conditions, and the provisions of the National Archives of South Africa Act, 1996 (Act 43 of 1996), apply with the necessary changes, but— |
| a) | the Archive Repository must be maintained under the proper management and care of the Department; |
| b) | no record may be transferred to the National Archives; |
| c) | subject to the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act 2 of 2000)— |
| i) | no record may be available for public access until a period of 20 years has elapsed since the end of the year in which the record came into existence, which period may be extended by the Minister in the interests of national security; and |
| ii) | access to records which have been in existence for less than 20 years can only be obtained subject to such conditions as may be determined by the Secretary for Defence. |