The modernisation of traditional healing in South Africa - healers, biomedicine and the state (original) (raw)
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Institutionalisation of African Traditional Medicine in South Africa: Healing Powers of the Law?
Journal of Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law, 2011
Helende magte van die reg? Die meerderheid van mense in ontwikkelende lande kies of is afhanklik van tradisionele gesondheidspraktyke vir primêre gesondheidsorg. Alhoewel die Suid-Afrikaanse regering tot dusver sekere praktyke van tradisionele gesondheidsorg geduld het, is dit nog nie ten volle in alle aspekte van die gesondheidsorg geïntegreer nie. In lyn met globale ontwikkelings en plaaslike realiteite het Suid-Afrika begin met die integrasieproses deur die promulgering van die Wet op Tradisionele Gesondheidspraktisyns 22 van 2007. Die volgende stap is die skep van ʼn regsraamwerk vir tradisionele geneesmiddels. Hierdie bydrae fokus op drie aspekte, naamlik die betekenis van "Afrika tradisionele geneesmiddels", die redes waarom die Suid-Afrikaanse regering besluit het om Afrika tradisionele geneesmiddels te institusionaliseer en laastens die regering se plan van aksie vir die effektiewe integrering van tradisionele geneesmiddels in die Suid-Afrikaanse gesondheidsisteem. Laastens waag die outeur om "n paar gedagtes te wissel ten opsigte van die simboliese verbintenis tussen die reg en geneesmiddels, "n verbintenis wat sy as die "helende magte van die reg en geneesmiddels" gedoop het.
The Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007) of South Africa (Part 2: Resolutions)
Australasian Medical Journal, 2016
Background Before the promulgation of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007), there was no formal guideline or training culture to steer traditional healing in South Africa. Training was and is still mostly informal. Sometimes a new healer is trained by other traditional healers. In many cases, the traditional healer is self-taught without any learning whatsoever. Aims The present study aims to describe the various resolutions of the Act to plan, develop and manage traditional healthcare training in the future. Methods This is an exploratory and descriptive study in line with the modern historical approach of investigation and review. The emphasis is on using contemporary documentation, like articles, books and newspapers, as primary resources to reflect on the development and promulgation of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007). The findings are offered in a narrative format. Results It seems that Act No 22 (2007) was promulgated without comprehensive research and in-depth discussion on training with all the role players who have a vested interest. Conclusion It is clear that training ideals such as formal study programmes, qualified staff and institutional bodies to train and to educate future traditional healers are not immediately attainable. The nearly ten years of minimal activity to enact Act No 22 since its promulgation confirms this failure. Inexpensive and uncomplicated training paths are needed until a system can be developed. One such path is the continuation of informal in-house training with another traditional healer.
2006
The need to progress from parallel or merely tolerant health care systems towards integrated systems in countries with both traditional and western health care systems has been acknowledged globally. Underlying this acknowledgement is the need to respond to the expressed health care needs of communities. This article offers a critical reflection on national and international policies as they relate to African traditional medicine and healing in the context of the South African health care system. Key policy documents and laws pertaining to traditional healing are addressed so as to elucidate the current legal and social status of African traditional medicine and health practitioners in South Africa. The Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2004 is a breakthrough in attempts to legitimise and professionalise traditional practitioners, but this article also identifies aspects of the Act that may evoke conflict.
The present-day diagnosis and treatment model of the South African traditional healer
Australasian Medical Journal, 2016
Background At present, no formal guides or curricula exist to direct and instruct diagnosis and treatment in the practice of the traditional healer. To gain knowledge of how the traditional healer makes diagnoses and offers treatment, the researcher has to rely on the reflections in the literature as well as writings and communications offered by a few authors and the traditional healer organizations. These materials are sometimes insufficient and even misleading and cannot serve as trustworthy information in isolation. Aims The present study is aimed at determining and describing the present diagnosis and treatment model of the traditional healer. Methods This is an exploratory and descriptive study in line with the modern-day historical approach of investigation and reviewing research. The emphasis is on the study of present-day documentation, like articles, books and newspapers as primary resources to reflect on the development and promulgation of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007). By implementing this approach, new information can be uncovered on the present-day diagnosis and treatment model of the traditional healer. The findings are offered in narrative format. Results The regulations and definitions of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act (Act No 22, 2007) is not effective in evaluating the procedure of diagnosis and treatment of the present day traditional healer, as this act, being promulgated in 2007, is applicable to diagnosis practices and training processes still to be developed. Conclusion A traditional healthcare model based on scientific research to guide and teach the student of traditional healing and about diagnosis and treatment is non-existent in South Africa. Traditional leaders acquire their current knowledge and understanding of the diagnosis and treatment through various doubtful ways of learning, mostly verbally and in practice from unqualified traditional healing masters or tutors. This means that the pre-modern traditional health know-hows, styles and approaches which are being offered, differ immensely in standards from tutor to tutor.
The decolonialisation of medicine in South Africa: Threat or opportunity?
South African Medical Journal, 2016
The South African Traditional Health Practitioners Act 22 of 2007 is now fait accompli. The Act has been promulgated and the Department of Health (DoH) is proceeding with its implementation. An Interim Traditional Health Practitioners Council and a dedicated DoH deputy director have been appointed, the appointment of a registrar is being finalised, and the DoH has conducted a roadshow to introduce the Act and its implications to groups of traditional health practitioners (THPs) countrywide. The objective is eventual formalisation and professionalisation of THP practice to provide appropriate primary healthcare services through co-operation with biomedical service providers. Biomedical practitioners should understand the provisions of Act 22, and how this may affect their own practices.
Planning health care in South Africa—is there a role for traditional healers?
Social Science & Medicine, 1992
Developing health policies for the 'post-apartheid' era has become an urgent task of the early 1990s in South Africa. A neglected policy issue thus far has been the question of whether traditional healers have a role to play in future health care, and if so what this should be. Rather than developing positions on these questions, this paper sets out the main debates which need the consideration of health care planners. Arguments for and against traditional healers in health care are presented, and alternatives which could be chosen are outlined. Options adopted by countries on South Africa's borders. Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland are briefly considered.