Initially, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development extended the exemption, meaning that companies within certain sectors were exempted from compiling and submitting Section 51 Manuals to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)until 31 December 2015.

If an entity is a private body, but not a private company as defined by the Company Act of 2008, it did not have to comply with Section 51 of the legislation until the end of December 2015.

In terms of the Governance Notice number 34914, certain private bodies still have to submit their manuals in terms of the legislation to the Commission.These private bodies include those with 50 or more employees OR those who operate in specific sectors and have an annual turnover equal to / exceeding certain amounts.

The sectors and turnover amounts are listed below:

SECTOR	EMPLOYEES	ANNUAL TURNOVER (in millions ZAR)
Agriculture	50 or more	02
Mining and Quarrying	50 or more	07
Manufacturing	50 or more	10
Electricity, Gas, Water	50 or more	10
Construction	50 or more	05
Retail, Motor Trade and Repair Services	50 or more	15
Wholesale Trade, Commercial Agents, and Allied Services	50 or more	25
Catering, Accommodation and other Trade	50 or more	05
Transport, Storage and Communications	50 or more	10
Financial and Business Services	50 or more	10
Community, Special and Personal Services	50 or more	05