Posted on June 22, 2011
The Archival Platform applaud the initiatives to reposition the arts, culture and heritage sector as a major contributor to economic development described in Minister Paul Mashatile's recent budget vote speech to the National Assembly. We are heartened to hear that progress is being made in the development of a National Liberation Heritage Route and that attention is being paid to the declaration of new national heritage sites and the upgrading of graves of struggle icons.
But we have a question for the minister: how does he intend addressing the dire situation of the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa?
Consider this: the National Archives Advisory Council, has not been constituted since the term of office of the previous incumbents came to an end in 2008; the matter of the national archivist, suspended in September 2010, pending the outcome of a disciplinary process, has yet to be finalised rendering the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARSSA) particularly vulnerable at a time when the national archival system is in desperate need of dynamic leadership; and the woefully inadequate physical facilities mean that the all-important records of government lie scattered in private storage amenities across the land.
Here's another question for all of us to reflect on. In the face of such challenges, how can we, as citizens and civil society organisations help? The Archival Platform is inspired to see how many countries offer their citizens an opportunity to contribute in one way or another to the effective functioning of the national archives - through appointment to decision making or advisory councils, participation in stakeholder forums or through membership of a ‘friends' organisation. How can South Africans with the will and expertise to make a difference engage?
Civil society participation in the governance and promotion of national archives has run a troubled course in our country. The National Archives Commission established in 1996 to play a leading role in directing the transformation of the national archival system was rendered ineffective through lack of infrastructure and administrative support. The larger National Archives Advisory Council, which replaced it in 2005 - with greatly reduced powers - was effectively moribund by the time the then term of office of the then-incumbents expired. No new appointments have been made to the Advisory Council despite the assurances given by Minister Xingwana's in 2010 that the matter was in hand.
As concerned citizens we expect and trust government to perform its duties in a way that affirms our constitutional rights. What do we do when our national institutions are ailing? What so we do when the voice of civil society is effectively silenced and citizens are denied the opportunity to play a role mandated in law?
The Archival Platform has, since its inception in 2009 highlighted the problem of the non-functioning Advisory Council but perhaps we need to look at this as being symptomatic of a greater problem.
It's not the appointment of the Advisory Council, that's at stake, it's the need for a robust national archival system that's able to function effectively as the auditor of government record-keeping - ensuring that these all important records are held safe for all South Africans now and in the future - and play its rightful role in deepening democracy, that we should be concerned about.
Maybe it's time to stop asking when the Advisory Council will be appointed and consider if, given the troublesome history of this body and its predecessor, it would be appropriate to do so.
We need to take a step back and ask that the minister and his colleagues in government to apply their minds to rethinking the state of the national archive in and considering if it may function better if it were differently structured and positioned.
Should the NARSSA be classified as a programme of the Department of Arts and Culture, when it has such an important cross-cutting function to perform? Might it not best be constituted as an autonomous institution? Could it play a more powerful role if it were positioned elsewhere in government?
This is not a new question. The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented to President Nelson Mandela in 1998 recommended that: 'the government takes steps to ensure that the national archives functions as the auditor of government record-keeping. This requires that the national archives become an independent agency, rather than remaining as a sub-component of a single government department'. We have yet to see whether this recommendation will ever be taken up.
We're calling on government, not just the minister and the Department of Arts and Culture, to engage with civil society, look to the best examples the world has to offer and fundamentally rethink the question of the national archival system.
As we start collectively to re-imagine a different form for the national archival system we can establish a new set of roles for civil society, new opportunities for dynamic engagement and build a system that serves the needs of our democracy now and in the future.
Minister Mashatile has demonstrated the willingness to lead the Department of Arts and Culture into a new era and to engage with civil society chart a new course. We call on the Minister to apply his mind and his energies to resolving the troublesome question of the national archival system and pledge our whole hearted support for this endeavour.
See other posts on this topic:
The Archives Advisory Council: a chequered past, with hope for the future?
Our Letter FROM Lulu
Letters for Lulu delivered to DAC
Jo-Anne Duggan is the Director of the Archival Platform