Inclusion of rural communities in national archival and records system: a case study of Blouberg-Makgabeng-Senwabarwana area

Abstract

Previously colonised, marginalised communities rarely participate in the mainstream archival and records systems throughout the world. Archiving as it is known today is preserving records on paper, electronic, audio-visual and microfilm formats. These media were not present in the pre-colonial era hence the stories, histories and heritage of most communities, such as those in Africa, are not represented in the mainstream archives. The African tradition had always been oral in which stories and heritage are transmitted and preserved by word of mouth. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors such as the non-keeping of written records which had been preventing previously colonised communities from participating in archiving their histories. The paper seeks to find ways in which such communities could be galvanised into participating in the mainstream archival and records systems. The paper will use the communities in the Blouberg-Makgabeng-Senwabarwana (BMS) area, in Limpopo Province, South Africa, as a case study. Researched works and projects in different professional fields, as well as oral history conducted in the BMS area will be used as references in this study.  The communities in this area are mainly rural and poor, and they represent the previously disadvantaged groups which had not been able to participate in archiving their stories. While this paper uses the BMS communities as a case study, it is actually a viewpoint article in which the lack of community participation in national archival and records systems is interrogated and critiqued, and is found to have been mainly attributed to historical factors related to colonialism and apartheid. Other key findings in this paper include the fact that communities in peripheral areas such as BMS are generally poor, less educated and underdeveloped. As a result, they are constantly involved in day-to-day struggles for survival, hindering them from participating in archiving activities.