Assessing the extent of compliance with regard to National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act and Promotion of Access to Information Act: Implications for good governance and accountability

Abstract

Since 1994, several pieces of legislation were passed and thereby calling for relevant stakeholders to ensure their implementation. A need for sound records management in South Africa prompted the government to review National Archives Act, thereby giving birth to National Archives and Records Service Act (No 43 of 1996 as amended). According to the Act, the National Archivist is charged with the primary responsibility of ensuring sound records management in national governmental bodies throughout South Africa. Governmental bodies are expected to comply with the Act. Based on the foregoing, the purpose of this article is to demonstrate the fundamental role played by both governmental bodies and the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARS) in ensuring sound records management. In order to clearly demonstrate the level of sound records management among governmental bodies, a survey was conducted. The paper concludes by indicating that lack of cooperation between governmental bodies and NARS would possibly result in poor records management and limited access to information. The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) is used as a benchmark for giving of access to information in South Africa. Governmental bodies would find it difficult to implement PAIA without sound records management programmes.