1. Cabinet has noted that the blanket moratorium on the destruction of public records that it originally imposed in 1995 and reimposed in 1997 until the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) had been completed, was lifted on completion of the formal period of operation of the TRC on 31 July 1998.

2. Cabinet has however approved that a moratorium on the destruction of the records of the following security related bodies be maintained until the work of the Amnesty Committee of the TRC has been completed: the South African National Defence Force, ARMSCOR, the South African Police Service, the Department of Correctional Services, the National Intelligence Agency, the South African Secret Service and all defence, police, correctional and intelligence bodies of the former homelands.

3. With the exception of the bodies mentioned in par. 2 above, governmental bodies may now implement all existing disposal authorities issued by the National Archives. This includes disposal authorities issued on a provisional basis between 1995 and 1998. Attention is however drawn to the provision of the National Archives of South Africa Act stating that no public record under the control of a governmental body shall be transferred to an archives repository, destroyed, erased or otherwise disposed of without the written authorisation of the National Archivist (section 13(2)(a)). This provision also applies to records in electronic form.

4. Enquiries may be directed to the above address. Telephonic enquiries may be directed to (012) 323 5300. The contact persons are Mrs Erna-Marie Pretorius and Mrs Louisa Venter.

5. Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all offices under your control.

6. Please acknowledge receipt of this circular.

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