Archivists’ Council of South Africa

Archivists’ Council of South Africa
Name	Archivists’ Council of South Africa
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	Pretoria
Founded	1980s
Region served	South Africa

Contents

History

The Council traces origins to sectoral meetings in the 1980s involving professionals from Robben Island Museum, South African National Defence Force Archives, South African Library staff, and academics from Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria and Rhodes University. Early agendas responded to issues raised by the Apartheid era record-keeping crises, including access to materials connected to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and archives from South Africa’s liberation movements such as the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. During the transition to democracy the Council engaged with the Interim Constitution of South Africa processes and with oversight bodies associated with the Constitution of South Africa to establish norms for custody and access. Subsequent decades saw partnerships with museums like the Apartheid Museum and research institutes including the Human Sciences Research Council and Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

The Council is governed by an elected executive committee drawn from members affiliated with institutions such as the National Library of South Africa, Iziko Museums of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Archives, Eastern Cape Archives, Western Cape Archives and Records Service and tertiary archives at University of Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela University. Subcommittees include a standards committee interacting with the South African Bureau of Standards, a training committee liaising with the Department of Arts and Culture (South Africa), and a liaison committee coordinating with the International Council on Archives and the Commonwealth Association of Archives. Governance documents reference statutory frameworks like the Promotion of Access to Information Act and the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act, and oversight involves representatives from bodies including the South African Human Rights Commission and provincial cultural affairs departments in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

The Council develops professional guidance adopted by institutions such as the Constitutional Court of South Africa archive, provides advisory services to custodial institutions including the South African Police Service archives and supports preservation projects at sites like Robben Island. It organises conferences with partners including African Archives Association members and international delegates from Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, British Library, National Archives (UK) and Bibliothèque nationale de France. The Council issues position statements on matters affecting collections at museums such as the Iziko South African Museum and engages with legal processes pertaining to records created by entities including South African Broadcasting Corporation and Transnet.

Membership comprises professional archivists, records managers, conservators and academics from institutions like University of Cape Town’s Special Collections, University of the Witwatersrand’s Historical Papers, Stellenbosch University Libraries and independent practitioners who have worked with organisations such as the South African Heritage Resources Agency, National Film and Video Foundation and Human Rights Commission. Affiliations extend to regional groups including the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre and international networks such as the International Council on Archives and the Memory of the World Programme, and collaborative links with universities including University of Zululand and North-West University.

The Council advocates on access, custody and retention policies referencing statutes such as the Promotion of Access to Information Act and the Protection of Personal Information Act. It provides submissions to parliamentary committees including those in Parliament of South Africa and consults with oversight bodies like the Public Service Commission and South African Human Rights Commission on matters involving records from institutions such as the South African Revenue Service and Department of Basic Education. The Council has campaigned on restitution and repatriation issues in coordination with museums such as the Iziko South African Museum and heritage bodies including the South African Heritage Resources Agency.

Training programmes are delivered in partnership with universities and training providers linked to UNESCO and the International Council on Archives, offering courses on appraisal, conservation and digital records management relevant to collections at University of Johannesburg archives, National Archives of South Africa repositories and private archives like those of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Standards development draws on international frameworks used by the National Archives and Records Administration and the British Standards Institution, adapted for South African statute contexts such as the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act. Professional development includes mentorship schemes with senior archivists from institutions like the National Library of South Africa, exchange programmes with Library of Congress and bursaries sponsored by foundations including the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Major initiatives have included coordinated preservation projects at Robben Island Museum and community archiving programmes in collaboration with South African History Archive, oral history projects with the South African Museum and documentation of liberation movement records from African National Congress collections. The Council has led digitisation programmes interoperable with platforms used by the Memory of the World Programme and the Digital Public Library of America standards, emergency salvage responses for heritage affected by events in provinces such as Western Cape and Gauteng, and policy development projects supporting institutions such as Constitutional Court of South Africa archives and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission documentation centres.

Category:Archives in South Africa