Speech delivered by the MEC for Health and Welfare on behalf of the Premier of Limpopo Province on the occasion of Traditional Health Practitioners' Conference Westernburg Community Hall

27 October 2004

Programme Director
The Executive Mayor of Polokoane Local Municipality
Councillors
Government officials
Honourable traditional health practitioners
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It’s a great pleasure for me to be part of this history making process, and to be part of great women and men who continued to resist the attempt by colonialism to rob them of their identity.

The President of our country Thabo Mbeki has championed the era of African renaissance together with other African leaders and African scholars. In leading this clarion call by our leaders to reclaim our heritage, we as a country and this province in particular cannot afford to shed our positive legacies.

Until recently, before the dawn of democracy in our country, traditional healers were referred to as witch doctors. They were thought of as practicing black magic. They were seen as mutilating bodies while still alive and taking body parts for medicinal purposes. Their intentions were viewed as evil and driven by greed and barbarism.

The missionaries, who were bent on undermining our traditional health system failed in their objective of total onslaught against the system, precisely because it was rooted and was the lifeblood of our communities.

Today we are gathered here to reaffirm the role and relevance of traditional healing in the ongoing struggle to provide our people with quality health care.

We are therefore highly privileged to have the opportunity to speak at this conference whose objective is among others, to engage in the on-going discussions about the issues that are central to the institutions of traditional health practitioners.

It is our view that this historic gathering responds to the passing of the Traditional Health Practitioners Bill. It is our hope that this conference will deal with the critical and fundamental issues that relate to concrete programmes that will strengthen and consolidate the gains that we have achieved with regard to the recognition and advancement of this indigenous practice.

In 1977 the 30th World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to promote traditional medicine worldwide.

A year later, at Alma Ata, it was declared that African traditional health practitioners should be part of the comprehensive primary health care system. This was informed by the realisation that in Sub – Saharan Africa about 80 % of the people makes use of traditional medicine.

While the people of the world were unanimous about the role of traditional healing in the delivery of primary health care, in our country traditional health practitioners had no legal status. Instead prior to our democratic change, traditional healing was suppressed and vilified. In this way the stereotypes that most missionaries harboured about this practice were strengthened

Unfortunately some of the perceptions that people had about us were reinforced by such practices as ritual killings that plagued our country in general and our province in particular. This practices led to the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence. Unfortunately some of these practices still happen to this day. We therefore call upon this conference to pronounce itself and stand firm against these heinous acts because they have nothing to do with the provision of health care, which you are promoting.

One of the key issues that emerged from the proceedings of that Commission and other forums was the need to regulate the activities of traditional health practitioners.

The White Paper on the Transformation of the Health System in South Africa state that “traditional practitioners … should not at this stage form part of the public health service, but should be recognized as an important component of the broader primary health care team. The regulation and control of traditional health practitioners should be investigated for their legal empowerment . . . ” This is in fact in line with the Alma Ata affirmation that African traditional healing should be part of the comprehensive primary health care system.

In order to elaborate on this policy statement government proceeded to organise public hearings in Provinces to solicit comments on a statutory council for traditional health practitioners, the issue of medical certification and medical aid coverage of care provided by traditional health practitioners.

In this province alone seven public hearing were conducted with more that 50 000 people contributing.

At the end of these hearings, it emerged that there was unanimity that there must be established a statutory body or an interim council of traditional health practitioners, that the council or body should be both provincial and national as is the case with the House of Traditional Leaders.

Proposals for membership of this body were also made during the hearings and resulted in other paramedical professions being included for membership by the Bill.

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The Bill also addressed issues around the role of the statutory body including training, practice, accreditation, code of good practice, etc.

Today we are extremely humbled that those submissions have been carefully crafted into the Traditional Health Practitioners Bill of 2003, which is in the main, your product.

It is our considered view that during this conference, through the different presentations and discussions you will find time to engage this bill so that by the time of its enactment all the matters pertaining to the role and place of the traditional health practitioners shall have been attended to.

Discussions and the submissions that will emanate from this conference should help us to reach consensus on this matter that will take us beyond where we are now.

Such engagements should help us to carve concrete steps to strengthen partnership with the traditional health practitioners around issues of health, environment, and culture.

The matter of traditional healing and practice require that we be conscious of the impact that this exercise has on our environment, precisely because we are in the main relying on the environment for the sector to flourish. We therefore need to ensure that as we explore the potential of indigenous medicinal plants, we do this in a manner that is sustainable and in harmony with nature and the environment.

It is our conviction that in the pursuit of discoveries and breakthroughs caution should be exercised to ensure that these species do not get depleted. In fact we urge the herbalists who operate formally and non – formally to explore possibilities of establishing herbal gardens in their communities in order to sustain some of our valuable species which are currently facing extinction.

A lot of expertise exist in government and many private and research institutions like the National Reference Centre for African Traditional Medicines, which can be tapped on to establish and sustain these herbal gardens.

Sustainable and carefully thought – out utilisation of our environmental resources can have positive economic spin-offs in as much as carelessly thought-out practices can have negative economic consequences.

This sector can create huge economic spin-offs for our communities, which could contribute towards the eradication of poverty, create employment and economic growth. Particularly in the rural areas, we need to ensure that our communities enjoy these economic spin offs, lest the greedy multinational profit mongers hijack them.

It must be noted that already western scientists are now turning their attention to research our herbs and register them as their intellectual property through patenting. The disadvantage of this process is that it will not benefit our people. Therefore there is a need to ensure that we protect jealously our traditional resources and claim ownership. It is therefore imperative for this conference to emerge with such proposals that will help us protect the indigenous knowledge and promote trade through patents and intellectual property rights.

In the same vein the preservation of these species and the knowledge thereof should also be preserved in order to allow the coming generations to benefit as well.

These are some of those areas that if carefully explored, will actually contribute towards the broader programme of sustaining our people economically.

The evolution of this piece of legislation confirm our view that traditional health practitioners are an important national health resource, always complementing each other with other forms of medical practice including conventional medicine, sharing beliefs, culture and values with patients and mostly skilled in interpersonal relations and counselling.

It is therefore befitting that as government we ensure that this institution is supported and nurtured to grow.

Over and above, government has scored progress. Critical in this national effort to build a better life for all has been partnership with all the people of South Africa.

While we take pride in the progress that has been made, we are acutely aware of the massive challenges that remain before we eradicate the imbalances that exist in the overall development of our country but particularly in the distribution of health care resources.

We learn from the lessons of our experience and resolve to build on what has been achieved.

We are confident that in our partnership with traditional health practitioners we will conquer.
We wish you a successful conference.

We thank you.

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