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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Documentation and freedom of information in the new South Africa |
Author: | Merrett, Christopher |
Year: | 1998 |
Periodical: | African Research and Documentation |
Issue: | 76 |
Pages: | 5-12 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | information management freedom of the press |
Abstract: | Comprehensive documentation of the South African condition is crucial: there is a need for full disclosure about the past so that 'the torn and missing pages of South African history' may be restored; the free flow of information is essential to participative democracy and the making of choices; secrecy was fundamental to apartheid; and, in view of the complexity and ambivalence of South Africa's transition from repression to democracy, the health of the documentation process provides a useful gauge of the state of the nation and the strength of civil society. The record of the postapartheid South African government, however, does not give much cause for optimism regarding access to information, and it will take years before the effects of new and liberal legislation on documentation can be assessed. Meanwhile, sociopolitical and cultural factors are influencing the extent and nature of documentation, evident for example in the domain of press freedom. The role played by NGOs in the information system of South Africa has faded rapidly and documentation as dissidence, so characteristic of the apartheid era, has vanished. Postapartheid South Africa's documentation system remains deeply flawed, and it will require considerable vigilance in the sphere of civil rights to ensure that the situation does not further worsen. Notes, ref. |