The National Archives of South Africa is responsible for preserving a national archival heritage for use by the government and people. These archives, as well as those kept by private archival institutions, constitute a vital part of the broader national heritage because they are an instrument for fostering national identity. They give us information about our past, and thus help us to understand the present. This information is as important to a nation as individual memory is to a person. Furthermore, public archives, the records of governmental bodies, serve as a mechanism for governmental accountability and transparency, and they protect enduring civic, legal, property and other rights.
Archives are therefore a cornerstone of democracy.
The vital role that archives play in helping us understand and come to terms with the past, as well as protect people s rights, can be illustrated by the extensive use made of archives in the custody of the National Archives by researchers of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and of land restitution processes. And on a daily basis, numerous ordinary members of the public use archives in seeking documentation in support of citizenship, residence, property, marital and other rights. In addition, archival records are used for on-going official purposes and a broad spectrum of research interests. The National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System seeks to provide efficient access to information about the collective national treasure-house of archives. The National Archives of South Africa is mandated in terms of the National Archives Act to maintain such a system, containing information on public archives kept in both national and provincial archives repositories throughout South Africa.