General Disposal Authority No. AZ1
for the Destruction of Z Forms

General Disposal Authority No AZ 1 is hereby issued for the destruction of Z forms. Each governmental body should determine appropriate retention periods for the Z forms that do not have enduring value in terms of this general disposal authority issued by the National Archivist. The following should be kept in mind:

1. In determining retention periods, the governmental body's own requirements for access to information for efficient functioning should be taken into account, as well as its obligations to the public for accountability, e.g. in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 and other relevant legislation.
2. Should the Z forms be placed on correspondence files in a file plan, the Z forms will carry the same retention period as the files.
3. Retention periods for financial Z forms should be determined in conjunction with the Office of the Auditor-General.

The disposal authority number should be quoted in the destruction certificates that should be submitted to the National Archivist when records were destroyed in terms of this authority.

No destruction should take place without the assurance that the record is no longer required, that no work is outstanding and that no litigation or investigation or request which would involve the records in question in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act or Promotion of Administrative Justice Act is pending.

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