The Botswana National Archives and Records Services (BNARS) is the first port of call for any researcher who seeks to examine Botswana’s contemporary history. Located within the Government Enclave in the heart of Gaborone city, the BNARS holds a range of primary collections concerning personal materials from key historic actors, private companies’ records, newspapers, as well as all the currently declassified Botswanan governmental records.
A range of people utilise the BNARS for a variety of purposes, and when I was working there I met not just academics, but people researching a range of themes including the primary school leaving examinations from the 1980s, or those seeking specific newspaper editions. I even met people who had come to do research in support of their role in the film industry, and others who came to seek answers for legal battles. The BNARS is truly one of the most important places in Botswana.
Unfortunately there are plenty people in Botswana who still do not know what an archive is, what it is used for, or how it might be important to them. I include my family and friends in this category as they have little idea of what archives are meant for, why they are so important, and why researching historians like myself want to utilise them. The reason for this ‘silence’ in Botswanan society could be that the archive is not advertised, nor do people think about the purpose and power that the archive has in contemporary society.
I first visited the BNARS for my Master’s thesis in 2014, and subsequently for my current PhD research, which is an international relations study, titled “Botswana-South African Economic Relations: A History, 1966-2014”. This short blog is focused on my experiences during my PhD research so far. Conducting archival research at the BNARS was both a pleasure, but also a challenge. However, having accessed the British National Archives at Kew prior to my return visit to Botswana and the BNARS, I could not help but compare the very different archival experiences. As a result, I felt I had a better experience in the British Archives, because of the better facilities available such as the ability to order files in advance online, and to have them ready during the days I visited, aided by easily searchable catalogues, and good customer service; there was always someone to assist and see that your query had been addressed. To me these made my experiences researching in London far easier and pleasurable. But nonetheless, this blog is about my experiences using a Southern African archive. I will focus on the access to the archives, the availability of the materials and collections for my research, the challenges I encountered, and how I dealt with them.
ACCESSING THE BNARS
Access to BNARS is easy and free of charge; the general public are welcome during the operation hours which is 0730hrs to 1630hrs, Monday to Friday and 0900hrs to 1200hrs on Saturday, and it is open throughout lunch. To access the reading room, where I worked from every day for three months, you need to sign in with the security personnel at the entrance, and then obtain a key for the locker to leave your personal belongings. To access the archives one is not required to produce any form of identification document, and importantly registration cannot be done in advance – you sign in and sign out on the days you want to visit. The only items allowed in the reading room are the archival reading materials requested, and your electronic devices or gadgets such as the laptop, camera, or portable scanner (there are electric sockets for charging). Importantly, in order to use a camera or scanner you must get consent from the archivist. In some cases they will ask you to produce a letter of introduction from your university or institution, and they will request details of what the material will be used for such as thesis writing, university assignment, or academic publication. For every 4 files requested, you need to fill out the request from, where you write the name of the title of your study, the files you want, personal contact details, age range, and signature.
The archive does not have a café or canteen, which means the researcher has to bring lunch or walk to the mall which is about 5 minutes’ walk away to buy food. The other down side is that there is no eating place indoors; you can only eat outside on the resting chairs, which on a bad weather days it is impossible to have lunch at the archive itself.
AVAILABILITY OF MATERIAL
The archives still use a manual catalogue, which makes it difficult to identify which files one could be looking for in advance through online searches, and means that it is advisable to seek the assistance of the archivists. However, some archivists were not always that keen to assist in the identification process, which I thought was a poor experience. For a researcher who wants to visit the archives, or make an inquiry from abroad, they can either get in touch with them through their Facebook page in which they usually respond to enquiries quickly, or through the archive email address for direct communication.
During my research trip, I realised that the BNARS cataloguing system was being reworked; the down side of this development was that I was not informed from the beginning of my research. There was poor communication from the archive, because there were no signs or warnings to caution researchers. After spending days going through the catalogue to identify the files I needed, and making requests for documents, I ended up receiving only one or two of the files, and was told that many of the other files could not be found. A week later another archivist I had worked with during my MA research (who no longer worked from the reading room reception), told me the cataloguing system was being changed, hence the challenge in locating some of the files. The reason was that most of these files on the Botswana National Bibliography (BNB) which is the manual catalogue, were being given new library call numbers which I understand is in preparation for the future digitalisation of the catalogue. However, this was a huge challenge for my research as most of these files held crucial information for my project.
COLLECTIONS
The BNB holds the general collection of the archives which are mostly declassified publications, unpublished reports, and unpublished dissertations on different aspects of Botswana history. After being unsuccessful with BNB, I was directed to another collection The Office of the President (OP) by one of the senior archivist, which proved useful for my research. The OP collections formed the basis for the rest of my research as it covered Botswana’s external affairs which addressed key elements of my research on Botswana and South Africa relations. The OP collection comprised correspondences between Heads of State and Foreign Affairs Ministers, minutes of meetings, press releases from Botswana and South Africa, declassified reports, publications, speeches, and trade agreements. For instance, the destabilisation by South Africa in Botswana during the 1980s was captured insightfully in some of these documents, while others provided information of the customs agreements, Bank of Botswana, DeBeers memorandums, and civil service working papers. The documents also covered the period of study from the 1960s to 1989; I have not come across anything that goes much beyond 1990 because of the on-going process of declassification.
A major challenge that I encountered was that some of the material in the files was so faded that in some instances I couldn’t read them, which was mainly because of the kind of paper used; I am hoping to supplement the information through the files held in the South African Archives, such as the Historical Papers Archive at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Furthermore, some letters were hand-written in cursive style which was not easy to read, and in such cases I would ask colleagues to help me figure out what is written, but some were so poorly written that it was a lost cause. Another key challenge was that some letters were missing in the files, and I assume they have been lost or not declassified. For instance, I would be following a thread on communications between the Foreign Ministers and they would quote the date of the letter they are responding to, but it would not be there in the files. One of the interesting communications which I found very informative was the correspondences between Botswana’s Minister of External Affairs Dr Gaositwe Chiepe and apartheid South Africa’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pik Botha in 1984/85, whose discussion was mostly about South Africa’s destabilisation of the Southern African region.
Besides the OP files, I consulted newspaper collectionss, such as The Botswana Daily News, Mmegi, The Mid Week Sun, Sunday Standard, The Botswana Gazette and The Botswana Guardian. Parliamentary debates (Hansards) also made a huge difference to my study, although some of the Hansards were missing in the BNARS, but there was an immediate solution because they could be located through the Parliamentary library which is only a few meters from the archives.
CONCLUSION
After time, patience, and perseverance my research at the BNARS was fruitful, and I found a lot of useful and insightful materials. You just have to know how to ask the right academic questions, who to ask for advice from in the archive, and not to give up easily. The BNARS is crucial in writing the history of Botswana and one that is a must visit for any research concerning the country.
Una Sechele is currently a PhD candidate within the International Studies Group, at the University of the Free State, researching the relationships between Botswana and South Africa.
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