Disaster preparedness and the strategic management of public records in South Africa: guarding against collective cultural amnesia

Abstract

Archives collect and manage traces of the memory of nations. All their efforts will come to naught if all those memories are lost due to disasters. As other archivists in the world, South African archivists and records managers as temporary guardians of the national heritage owe it to the future generations that the heritage is preserved. Disaster management should be part and parcel of the strategy to preserve archives for the present and future generations because emergency preparedness has the possibility of reducing the effects of disaster and ensuring business continuity. This article presents the findings of an assessment of disaster management activities in public archives of South Africa. A quantitative approach with a triangulation of data collection methods was used for the study. The findings revealed that disaster management did not feature prominently on their agenda as evidenced by a lack of written disaster management plans and strategies. It was concluded that without disaster plans public archival institutions are unable to preserve the South African heritage and guard against collective cultural amnesia. Among the recommendations is that South African archivists should ensure that the national documentary heritage is preserved through initiating disaster management activities nationwide.