ANÁLISIS DE GRASA.

Swaziland has no policy on the management of semi-active records, with the result that this crucial link in the record cycle has broken down. Procedures for handling semi-active records in the ministries and departments are not uniform, effective or efficient. The registry training course provided by government does not cover semi-active records, and there is no guidance available in the form of manuals or brochures. The National Archives has attempted to do something about the situation, but the staff have lacked the skills and the influence to reverse it.

Ironically, there is a basis for a programme to manage semi-active records, but nothing has been done about it. Successive National Development Plans have noted the need for improvements in record keeping. However, the objectives of the plans in respect of the record services have not been implemented by Government. For instance, the 4th National Development Plan covering the period 1983/84- 1987/88 is encouraging indeed. Had it been implemented.

Swaziland's problems in managing its records should have been solved by now or at least partially solved. Among the objectives of this plan, is the establishment of a records management service for all the ministries/departments of the government. This would include the transfer on a regular basis, of non-current records to cheaper storage, the establishment of an intermediate records centre in Mbabane for sorting and temporary retention of documents, the development of a staff training programme; new and legislation." If the officials had read the Development Plans they would be aware of the basic features of a records management programme.

5.4.2 Appraisal

In Swaziland the appraisal of records has never been attempted at all. There are many reasons for this state of affairs. The obvious ones are the lack of strong legislation regarding record-keeping and the lack of clear procedures. Officials are not aware of the necessity to appraise records or how it is done and thus provide no support for the registry staff.

There are no retention schedules and the registry staff simply do not know how long to keep the records in their care. Worse still, there is no one to whom they can turn

4th National Development Plan 1983-84/1987-88. Op.cit p . 369.

to learn the legal requirements. There are financial regulations which deal with the retention and disposal of financial records such as vouchers or cash books. However, the study showed that registry staff are often unaware of their existance or are afraid to apply them. As a result the registries tend to keep all the records they create.

The lack of an appraisal policy is causing increasingly serious problems. Closed files are kept in any and every available space in the ministry. They cover the tops of filing cabinets and line the floors, often mixed up with old office equipment. During the survey it was observed that all sorts of records ranging from important policy files to ephemeral records of no ongoing value, from vouchers to estimates, all had been dumped together indiscriminately.

The results of this confused situation are that ephemeral records are kept too long while valuable or even vital records are not identified and thus are not protected; filing cabinets and office areas are congested with files which are not in active use; information needed for decision making cannot be retrieved by action officers and registry staff are disheartened.

When storage space is needed urgently, there is a tendency to transfer all the closed records to the Archives in a block. Yet the Archives itself has no policy on appraisal.

In the absence of retention schedules, it is difficult to decide what to keep and how long. Therefore, all the records which have been transferred there so far have been retained. As a result, none of the records transferred there so far have been accessioned as archives but they remain in an intermediate storage area. This situation will be discussed in subsequent sections of this chapter.

Moreover the storage space in the archives building is full. The Director of the Archives has repeatedly tried to raise funds for an extension to the archives building in order to solve the problem, not realising that the problem lay in the lack of an appraisal policy. The study showed that the present Archives building is adequate to house the archives of the nation for the next twenty years if appraisal can be carried out regularly and retention schedules applied. Only a relatively small percentage of the deposits is of archival value. To extend the archives building at this stage would be a waste of time and money.

Clearly the lack of arrangements for appraising records has serious implications both for the proper administrration of records in the departments and for the provision of research services by the Archives. Professional solutions to this problem, along the lines which have been described in sections 5.2 and 5.3 of this chapter should be given urgent priority in a records management programme as a basis for implementing effective systems for the management

of active records and the administration of archives.