Applying Batho Pele principles in South African public archives – Do public programming initiatives count

Bibliographic Data

ID21501121
AuthorsMakutla Mojapelo (0000-0001-8647-4669, University of South Africa), Mashilo Modiba (0000-0003-2843-0056, University of South Africa), Nampombe Saurombe (0000-0002-9829-2093, University of South Africa, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume39
Issue2
Pages357-375
Publication date2023-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInformation Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0266-6669 • E-ISSN: 1741-6469
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/02666669211049382
OpenAlexW3210507283
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited25

Archival records exist for the benefit of society; therefore, people are at the very centre of the purpose of keeping archives. The South African government developed the Batho Pele principles to embrace them as a charter for public service to ensure a reliable and customer-oriented public service. Archival institutions such as the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa and the provincial archives are not exempted from this responsibility. These repositories form a part of the South African Public Service and play a crucial role in promoting the preservation and access to significant records that have enduring value. The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa and the provincial archives are responsible for preserving public and non-public records and promoting them to the public. In this quantitative study, an online survey completed by 20 archivists from these repositories helped establish whether archivists from the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa and the provincial archives utilised public programming initiatives to fulfil the Batho Pele principles. The analysed data indicated that the public archival institutions struggle to conduct public programming initiatives, and their limited efforts were not effective. This implies that most of these repositories did not consider public programming initiatives as tools to implement the Batho Pele principles. The study recommends that South African public archival institutions take advantage of the ‘window of opportunity’ presented by the Batho Pele principles to strengthen their outreach strategies to improve archival service quality

Business · Charter · Library science · National archives · Outreach · Political science · Public records · Public relations · Public service · Records Management · Computer Science · Digital and Traditional Archives Management · Law · Public Administration · Marketing

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