Roles and Responsibilities while Rethinking the Movement to Get Moving: Archives and Records in the Road Accident Fund

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of a Master of Information Science dissertation. The purpose of the study was to determine the Road Accident Fund’s readiness for electronic records. The study was qualitative, and a case study was used as the design for the investigation. Data were collected through document analysis. The findings revealed that two business units in the organisation have similar record-keeping mandates, which is confusing. Records Management forms part of the Information Governance unit at head office, while Correspondence and Document Management Services are responsible for performing records management functions in the regional offices. These business units do not form part of Information Governance, as is the case at head office, but are stand-alone regional units entrusted with records management. There is one such unit in every regional office across the country. The organisation has a central records manager who operates from the head office in Centurion. However, these regional records management business units exist and operate in isolation. As a result, there is dis-integration between paper records and the electronic processing of claims, which hinders the institution from providing timely services to motor vehicle accident victims. To improve its records management practices, the study recommended developing and implementing a records management programme, which will facilitate records management policy implementation and the development of standard processes and procedures within the organisation for managing paper and electronic records in an integrated manner.