Provisions for managing and preserving records created in networked environments in the archival legislative frameworks of selected member states of the Southern African Development Community

Abstract

In most states in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the national archives acts were enacted shortly after independence and modelled closely on British archival legislation. These acts were mostly written with paper records in mind, while being silent on records that appear in other media such as microfilm, audiovisual and electronic. This study provides a qualitative content analysis of archival legislation to assess the extent to which provision is made for the management and preservation of records created in networked environments in selected countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania Zambia, and Zimbabwe) in the SADC region. The key finding suggests that while the archival legislation in South Africa makes provision for the management of electronic records, the pieces of legislation for the other countries are silent on this issue. Furthermore, all the pieces of legislation are silent on whether electronic records can be admissible as evidence in a court of law. The study recommends that the SADC should consider adding a legal instrument in the form of a protocol treaty on archival legislation and designing a model law or statute on electronic records management and preservation to be customised by member states.