The impact of climate change on the Mpumalanga Provincial Archives and records management activities

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of climate change on South Africa’s Mpumalanga Provincial Archives (MPA) and related records management activities. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research approach/method was used to collect data from the source, including purposive sampling and expert knowledge solicited through semi-structured interviews. A review was undertaken to source climate data and related archival sector literature. Findings Recent extreme weather events in Mpumalanga seem to bear out climate change projections. The current absence of relevant strategies and plans implies that the MPA and provincial departments are not yet prepared for emergencies. The lack of a plan, an implementation strategy and related training may increase the impact of disasters on the provincial archives’ environment. Without disaster plans and robust preparedness, the question of how the MPA is going to preserve archives for future generations is raised. In addition, due to a lack of guidance for registry staff, appraisal is not allowing for identification and processing of archival materials, so combined with a lack of disaster management strategies and plans contributes to the loss of archives. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to the MPA; however, the findings may be extended to other South Africa provincial archives and parts of the world experiencing similar issues. Practical implications When archivists accept holdings into their repositories, they take the responsibility for their archival custody. But, these efforts may come to nothing if the archives are lost. Disaster management is the key to the protection of the archives. This study evaluated the present and future consequences of climate change impacts by assessing the risk to Mpumalanga archives by climate change-related floods. Social implications There is a need to conduct similar research on a larger scale so as to explore the impact of climate change in other provincial archives to provide a wider context of the problem within South Africa. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of climate change on archives. The results achieved should be seen as a first step towards identification of the issue.