Documenting Traditional Knowledge for Future Generations

BY: .

A stakeholders’ workshop on the documentation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in KwaZulu-Natal was held in the Traditional Medicine Boardroom on UKZN’s Howard College campus.

Hosted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Documentation Centre, the workshop explored formalising agreements between the traditional leaders of eThekwini and UKZN. A Memorandum of Understanding has been drafted and will be signed by the Amakhosi (traditional leaders) and the University.

Chief Director: Science Missions at DST, Professor Yonah Seleti, shared recent developments in IKS, including proposed legislation which will positively affect indigenous knowledge holders and practitioners. ‘The purpose is to protect the knowledge. That gives you the knowledge holder rights,’ said Seleti.

He said the proposed law should appear in an upcoming Government Gazette and encouraged all workshop participants, including traditional healers and leaders, to submit feedback ‘so that their knowledge contributions are heard’.

UKZN’s African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) Research Leader, Professor Hassan Kaya, said the IKS Documentation Centre hosted by UKZN would contribute greatly to the knowledge economy in KwaZulu-Natal.

Kaya echoed the sentiments of other participants who called for the sustainable harvesting of indigenous plants in rural areas, with a particular emphasis on Warwick Market.

In an endeavour to implement the National IKS Policy, the DST’s National IKS Office (NIKSO), has embarked on the process of documenting IKS in local and rural communities in the country. KwaZulu-Natal is one of the pilot provinces for the initiative which is in line with National IKS Policy, ie to recognise, develop, promote, and protect Indigenous Knowledge Systems.

In order to facilitate this process, NIKSO has established a National Recordal Systems and an IKS Documentation Centre at UKZN, located within the University’s Research Office.

DST’s Ms Carol van Wyk said the National Recordal System could serve as a ‘national knowledge management tool for the province’.

Van Wyk said seven IKS Documentation Centres had already been established throughout the country, with further centres due in Mpumalanga and Gauteng by 2017. She outlined developments around the country and said the IKS documentation hubs should benefit the community and knowledge holders through protecting, preserving, promoting and developing the knowledge.

Van Wyk said more than 4 000 items had already been recorded, and stressed the importance of updating communities on any developments. She emphasised aligning the legal framework so that the community members and IKS holders were protected.

Co-ordinator for IKSDC, Ms Zodwa Masinga, gave the background of the project, which dates back to December 2012 at Warwick Market. She said in total, 260 knowledge holders had been reached in the past two years, with a strong focus on medicine and food.

Masinga outlined the future plans for the Centre, such as expanding to other domains of IKS, including documenting information on the Amakhosi and maidens.

Mr Lindokuhle Sibiya of the Department of Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs presented a provincial perspective, examining the provincial activities relating to IKS and focusing on the Provincial IKS Strategy being developed in collaboration with UKZN and the Moses Kotane Institute.

Liaison for the Amakhosi and eThekwini’s Manager Traditional Leadership Support, Mr Victor Mkhize, said: ‘We have touched the kingdom because we are talking to the Amakhosi; and they will take this to the King.’

Mr Sipho Ngwenya of the Isizinda sobukhosi affirmed the support of His Majesty the King and the Amakhosi for the IKS project and thanked the University for involving traditional healers and healers in the process.

Seleti chartered the way forward, saying agreement had been reached at a broader level and that the three levels of government - national, provincial and local - would be involved. He said eThekwini would be used as an example of best practice and stressed that ownership needed to be at a provincial and community level.

Raylene Captain-Hasthibeer