Annual National Archives Awareness Week: 06 – 10 May 2024 #southafrica
The National Archives and Records Services of South Africa as an entity of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, has its origins in the appointment of a Chief Archivist for the Union of South Africa in 1919 and the promulgation of the first Archives Act in 1922. A decision was taken by the International Council on Archives (ICA) during the 2007 International Congress that countries celebrate Archives Week annually in their respective countries. Furthermore, the date, June 9, was chosen to commemorate the date ICA was established under the auspices of UNESCO.
The aim of the event is to popularise the profession and get to engage communities around the importance of archives in the preservation of societal memory. The week promotes the importance of good record keeping practices and allows members of the public access to archival buildings for them to witness archival functions and services. South Africa celebrates Archives Week under the theme: “30 Years of Democracy and State of Record Keeping in State Institutions: Archives of the Future”.
When South Africa gained its Freedom on 27 April 1994, the new government started a new process of transforming the country and putting in place new legislation that would enable it to govern under the new Constitutional dispensation. The archival legislation had to also undergo changes. The post democratic legislation became known as the NASA Act of 1996 and underwent a further amendment under the Second Cultural laws 2001 to be known as the National Archives and Records Service Act of 1996 as amended. The latter legislation disposed of the Archives Commission replacing it with the National Archives Advisory Council; designated a National Archivist appointed by the Minister and the DG; strengthened the powers of the National Archivists; and made provision for the collection of the nation’s oral memories.
In South Africa, archives have been deliberately kept in obscurity as the result of the machinations of the previous dispensation. Collection policies under the apartheid regime were biased and aligned with the political agenda of the time and excluded large parts of the population, ignoring the proper demographic makeup of the country. The existing collections do not only have gaps in the overall collective memory of the country but reflects a very western perspective where some facts might have been distorted and brimming with derogatory language as it was promoted then. The Celebration of the Annual National Archives Awareness Week is intended to promote the use of Archives and the profession in general, services archives offer to the public, and processes needed to access classified information.
Recently the department embarked on a process to review of the National Archives and Records Service Act of 1996 as amended to keep it up with challenges to address 4IR; updating of terminologies, increment of penalties and the need to establish cooperation with newer bodies such as the Information Regulator amongst others. The 2024 Annual National Archives Awareness Week will be hosted by the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa in partnership with the Gauteng Provincial Archives, the University of South Africa, Constitution Hill and the University of Johannesburg Archives from 06 – 10 June 2024.
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