Whoever Controls the Past, Controls the Future: Archives and Records Management Practitioners’ Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa

Nikiwe Momoti; Solomon Ngoako Marutha

doi:10.25159/2663-659X/9964

Authors

Nikiwe Momoti University of the Western Cape https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8589-6082
Solomon Ngoako Marutha University of South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5679-4394

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-659X/9964

Keywords:

Access, archives management, COVID-19, digitization, documentary heritage, preservation, records management, South African Society of Archivists, South Africa

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic in 2020. Most countries around the world, including South Africa, have imposed national lockdowns. COVID-19 was declared a national disaster in South Africa in March 2020, in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2002. The Act, among other things, recognises the importance of having access to reliable disaster information, as well as information management and communication systems for storing, disseminating, and exchanging information. Additionally, in April 2020, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) issued a declaration calling for shared responsibility in preserving the documentary heritage that provides a historical perspective on how pandemics have been addressed in the past for future research. The declaration was supported by heritage organisations such as the International Council on Archives. This quantitative study used The UNESCO 2015 Recommendation Concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage Including in Digital Form to investigate how members of the South African Society of Archivists responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of preserving and providing access to documentary heritage. A structured web questionnaire was used to collect data. The study revealed that while some archives and records management practitioners’ institutions had preservation, access, and disaster preparedness measures in place, others did not. From the findings, policy directions and a framework for records and archives management are proposed.

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Author Biography

Solomon Ngoako Marutha, University of South Africa

Professor: Department of Information Science

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