I know this will come across as naively optimistic, but I am hopeful that the government of national unity can offer traditional healthcare an avenue for tangible growth and development.
These are my hopes and dreams, walk with me...
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of connecting with entrepreneur Lebo Rantao.
Rantao is an app developer and is pioneering an online marketplace for iZangoma and traditional healers, the conversation is available on the SowetanLIVE website.
In the conversation, Rantao briefly spoke about the economic potential for growth and infrastructure in the traditional health and healing space.
“The traditional health space generates billions in revenue, allegedly, annually. Where is all that money going?” asked Rantao.
I think I have a couple of theories around why traditional health and medicine are under explored.
I must first say I do not negate the existence of complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) or the practice of homeopathy.
The conversation on the development of African traditional medicine is slightly separate because little to no infrastructural investment has been made.
Equally, CAM is acceptable within the umbrella of medicine whereas African traditional medicine remains the unwanted stepchild.
Back to the theories at hand, first I think the marrying of practices of divination for investigation of illness undercuts the legitimate aetiologias of illness, as understood within the traditional health space.
In simple English, when one visits a western allopathic doctor, they describe their symptoms to aid the investigation for causes and treatments.
With traditional healers, being informed by a gift of clairvoyance, on the other hand, often a time they will describe your symptoms to you. Leaving it up to you to validate or invalidate their analysis – taking it a step further they often offer a concoction of treatments that seek balance in your natural and spiritual world as to avoid further occurrence of the said illness.
The idea that one can just read energies and connect to a patient on a spiritual level (such that they feel what the patient is feeling) is foreign in western science.
I think this is partly why the entire traditional healthcare system is continuously rubbished, they cannot get passed the methods of diagnosis and theories of prognosis. Another issue within this same problem is the marrying of traditional health practices with faith and belief.
It is untrue that all who consume traditional medicines are iZangoma or even believe in the presence of ancestors beyond the tangible medicinal knowledge passed down from their grandmothers, grandfathers, etc.
More simply, if you are reading this from a position of faith that denies the existence of ancestors and ubungoma, you still can benefit from the physiological healing properties of plant medicine.
It is not a betrayal of your faith. Plant medicine works whether you believe in it or not, as does penicillin, for example.
Secondly, I think the traditional healthcare system is under explored out of sheer laziness. I mean seriously, if I ever must read another western medical critique of plant medicine rooted in its unknown toxicology. I might scream!
We have concrete evidence that whenever humanity is pandemic struck, nature’s pharmacy is often where we turn.
The traditional health space generates billions in revenue, allegedly, annually. Where is all that money going.
— Entrepreneur Lebo Rantao
We saw this with the HIV/Aids and Covid pandemic alike.
Why is it that we do not yet have a full and comprehensive understanding of the properties of medicinal plants, or at least the ones indigenous to your regions.
To compound this even more, the general rule of thumb is that if one is on chronic meds, one should consult their medical doctor for the safe use of traditional medicine.
However, medical doctors are under-educated on the medicinal properties of plant medicine, its toxicology or contra-indications.
So, you can guess that the advice is often to play it safe or completely far from traditional medicines.
Now, I know at first, I said that I have faith and then proceeded to paint a grim picture of the current reality.
However, the last few months have been testament of the value of using our voices to make a call to action.
Mihlali Nobavu, the young waitress who has ignited a slew of investigations into labour violations, is evidence of that.
Our department of health, and other stakeholder departments, owe us so much in terms of allocating a pathway for the development of traditional medicine as viable medicine.
Granted departments are people-run, and alike the department of sports, arts and culture, we wish for a top-down transformation of attitude as well as inclusivity, but within the healthcare system.
In the same breath, we seek the protection of the already existing custodians of traditional knowledge.
What I mean by this is, let this not be an anthropological escapade to extract knowledge, leaving communities still struggling for infrastructure.
Rather this is also a call for infrastructural development and upskilling for already existing practitioners, paving the way for future practitioners.
There is value in plant medicine or traditional medicine, as I use the terms interchangeably.
We just need invested policy and decision makers on board, while we continue to advocate for the development of traditional medicine.
To catch up more on the discussion with Rantao, please listen to the podcast on the SowetanLIVE website.
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