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The persistence of intense conflicts over land belonging to indigenous communities is a pressing issue in South Africa. This would resonate even more with the lived experiences of mine communities that are often having to grapple with the collateral socio-economic hardships and impoverishment effects. Matters can get even worse when the State has weak legal and institutional frameworks to regulate the use and possession of such highly contested lands. This paper explores the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC); its relevance and significance to South African extractive sector; its possible bottlenecks and implementation challenges; and suggestions for practical interventions and policy advances to facilitate its incorporation into law and policy. Displacement is the limited context within which this exploration is undertaken. The paper argues that the FPIC – as an envisaged future for the country's extractive policy – is more desirable than a mere duty to consult as currently framed in the empowering legislation namely, the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Act (MPRDA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholders require transparency that companies are conducting business sustainably, which can be provided through non‐financial disclosures. Businesses that act on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters can attain a competitive advantage. ESG has become necessary in the agricultural sector as agribusinesses are considered high‐impact companies. The lack of uniformity in reporting guidelines leads to inconsistent and overloading of information. The objective of this paper is to conduct an evaluation and comparison of the current ESG reporting practices of listed agribusinesses in South Africa, Australia, and Chile. To support the quality and quantity of reporting, the concept of materiality is addressed by recognising what is material to be disclosed to stakeholders. The study evaluates how agribusinesses have incorporated the proposed material topics of the new GRI 13 sector standard into their current reporting practices. A qualitative content analysis was done to identify the presence or absence of the 34 proposed material topics in their reports. The findings indicate a distinct lack of harmonisation in the agri‐food sector disclosures. Topics hardly mentioned included the rights of indigenous people, living income, and climate adaptation. Low disclosures of the keywords Climate adaptation with 3.3% and Climate resilience with 7.0% on average, for all three countries, were reported. It is recommended that the newly proposed GRI 13 sector standard must be implemented as companies can seize this opportunity for increased transparency and gain a strategic advantage. Emphasis on the materiality concept is needed as it connects with the stakeholder theory to disclose only important information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a country with a history of settler-colonialism, the land question in South Africa remains one of the critical issues of redress that is highly contested. Furthermore, opinions on the land question tend to be divided along racial lines. This paper uses white ignorance as a theoretical framework to explain these polarised views on the land question in South Africa post-1994. The paper also uses the concept of honorary whiteness/brownness to explain how differences among 'people of colour' serve to sustain a hierarchical racial order in which whites remain the ultimate beneficiaries. While research on white ignorance mainly focuses on the socio-psychological and material benefits of white ignorance for whites, this paper argues that those classified as honorary white or 'brown' also benefit, albeit minimally, from endorsing willful white ignorance of past and present racial atrocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of John Langalibalele's birth, whose philosophy for the development of sustainable livelihoods in rural communities included, among others, education and self-reliance, this paper asks: How does the Library and Information Services (LIS) profession contribute towards keeping this legacy alive? The paper is premised on the belief that rural livelihoods largely depend on the provision and use of Indigenous knowledges and resources available in communities. Therefore, one way of facilitating sustainable livelihoods in rural communities is to provide context relevant resources, including library resources. Specifically, this would involve integrating Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into Library and Information Services for rural communities. However, as a knowledge system, IK was marginalised and is on the brink of extinction. The imminent epistemicide can only further marginalize communities whose livelihoods depend on this knowledge. Libraries can contribute towards addressing this epistemicide by integrating IK into their services. The success of such an endeavour would be determined by the extent of readiness of libraries to embrace IK. Therefore, this paper explores the readiness of provincial library services whose mandate is to provide library services to all, including rural communities. In particular, the paper examines librarians' understandings and articulation of the concept of Indigenous knowledge and their readiness to integrate it into library services. Qualitative interviews were conducted with four purposefully selected heads of provincial library services in South Africa. The findings reveal divergent understandings which can arguably be attributed to the contextual nature of IK. Furthermore, an inclination towards viewing IK integration as beyond the purview of libraries was evident in the responses of participants. The findings further suggest that libraries serving rural communities are not ready to integrate IK, a situation that inadvertently might contribute towards its extinction and the resultant intellectual epistemicide. If Dube's dream of educated and self-reliant rural communities is to be realised, the educational resources provided (including library services) must draw on the local knowledges in which they are located. If those mandated with such resources do not understand this link, it is unlikely that the libraries they are in charge of will empower communities to be self-reliant. Further research with communities and community librarians is needed as a way of raising awareness of the plight of IK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to explore the factors leading to the disappearance of African indigenous knowledge of water conservation and management in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Throughout time, indigenous people developed methods of conserving and managing water to ensure that there is water availability. Although indigenous knowledge enabled communities to conserve and manage water for years, it faces challenges of disappearance in the modern society. Currently, little knowledge exists about African indigenous knowledge of water conservation and management. This study was grounded in the Sankofa paradigm. An exploratory qualitative research design was adopted. Data were collected, using one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The target participants were sampled, using non-probability sampling and purposive sampling. The study found that the factors contributing to the disappearance of African indigenous knowledge of water conservation and management include: lack of systematic documentation; colonisation; a dominance of the Christian religion; and families' loss of traditions and history. The paper recommended a systematic documentation of indigenous knowledge and acknowledgement and implementation of the African indigenous knowledge methods of water conservation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments of highly developed western nations with colonised Indigenous populations such as Australia, Canada and South Africa are increasingly turning to social procurement policies in an attempt to solve social inequities between Indigenous people and other citizens. They seek to use policies and funds attached to infrastructure development and construction to encourage private sector companies to provide training, employment and business opportunities for Indigenous people in the communities in which construction occurs. This paper outlines the rise of these policies and their origins, and critiques their connection to Indigenous people's human rights, impact measurement, evaluation and accountability mechanisms. In doing so this paper also explores benefits and potential of social procurement policies, as well as risks. Drawing on insights from an Aboriginal-developed evaluation framework, Ngaa-bi-nya, and Indigenous Standpoint Theory, this paper highlights Indigenous peoples' definitions of value and outlines their relevance to social procurement. Introducing the notion of cultural counterfactuals into social impact measurement research, it also offers a new conceptual framework to enable policymakers and practitioners to more accurately account for social procurement value and impact, including Indigenous people's notions of social value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a qualitative single case study approach this paper explores the views of academics which ultimately impact their actions to implement international curriculum within one institutional context in South Africa. The results show that a tailored IoC at an institution situated at the peripheries of the Western world is a policy that advances diversity of thought, decolonization of curriculum content, and appreciation of indigenous cultures and languages. The theory that emerged in this study underscores that IoC is a bottomup customized policy as it applies to the needs of the students to become wider thinkers and professionally integrated in the intercontinental and global job markets. Further recommendations for future theory and practice suggest IoC as an educational approach that accounts for the geographic positionality of the institution, and all aspects of diversity, rather than for a collective institutional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apartheid regime caused a disastrous conundrum regarding racial segregation that ushered the majority black, indigenous population into an inevitable and visible state of despair in South Africa. Thus, the transition into a democratic dispensation in the early 1990s brought a season of hope to the black majority. This was because the South African democratically elected government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), committed itself to redressing past imbalances and inequalities between and among racial categories - per the apartheid policy. In the midst of the transition, corruption arose, and the government's developmental mandate came to a halt. Hence, the democratically elected government is battling to address high unemployment rate, severe poverty, and poor service delivery, among other social ills that affected South Africa during the apartheid era. Based on this background, this paper discussed corruption and the disparity between the governing class and the rest of society in the quest for democracy and sustainable development in South Africa. Recent papers on corruption look at centres of government at large. However, this article set out to specifically look at the disparity between politicians and society. The paper adopted a content analysis of existing scholarly literature, such as books, articles, government documents, and theses to yield trustworthy findings. The findings of this article established that corruption by the ANC has significantly hampered the success of the country's economy. The corruption in South Africa has become visible and requires serious attention to restore the economy. The paper concluded that if those in the political class continue to compromise democratic values, including honesty and dignity, and perpetuate corruption, there are indisputable signs that South Africa will continue to fail in its developmental mandate of addressing socio-economic inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stereotyping has always permeated inter-ethnic understanding, conflating knowledge with prejudice. The seventeenth century European image of the Cape indigenous peoples was bound by a sustained ideological bias. The so-called "echo chamber of the discourse of the Cape" captured the Cape Khoi as primitive beasts in a negation of Christian values, and meant that knowledge about the Cape Khoi did not actually advance (Coetzee). In this paper I show that the Dutchman Jan Willem van Grevenbroek, VOC clerk at the Cape from 1684 to 1694, did in fact challenge the prevailing European image about the Khoi, then commonly called "Hottentots." In a Latin letter, he positions himself against negative primitivism and interprets Khoi customs as authentically Christian. However, Grevenbroek thus risks being drawn into an oppositional discourse that limits the possibilities for renegotiating stereotypes (Hall; Matusitz). At the same time, he strategically demonstrates that the stereotype contains no inherent knowledge about the people and thus exploits one of the few possibilities to open ideological discourse up to renegotiation (Hall). Grevenbroek's position challenges the very notion of there ever having been a single, colonial discourse (White), which makes Grevenbroek a valuable voice in Cape history, post-colonial discourse, and the history of knowledge in South Africa and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to establish the causal link between communal tenure and food security is progressively gaining currency as governments and development organisations refocus their exertion towards helping indigenous peoples to move away from subsistence farming to commercial farming. Many scholars contend that food security and poverty reduction cannot be accomplished except issues of access to land, security of tenure and the ability to use land profitably and sustainably are tended to. This study was conducted in Vhembe district, where communal tenure and agrarian practices still prevail. The paper established how communal tenures can contribute to food security in the Vhembe district, South Africa. The paper employed the qualitative methodology, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Despite the fact that the findings highlight a lack of security of tenure, it is astonishing that a majority of the participants felt secure and contended that communal tenure was effective in ensuring food security. The paper recommends secure customary tenure to improve food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is becoming increasingly important for researchers to critically reflect on approaches that can have a positive impact on the health outcomes of indigenous people. Such issues are of great importance and perhaps of special relevance to researchers in the Global South, and to the African context in which we work. Objective:To share some lessons learned from our fieldwork to contribute to current knowledge and conversations on decolonising research process. Methods: We used an African lens to critically reflect upon some issues raised from individual interviews and focus group discussions with our participants which we deem to be important for consideration in a decolonising research process. Results: The major issues that we raise are about important structures such as power, trust, cultural competence, respectful and legitimate research practice and recognition of individual and communities' health assets in a decolonising research process. Conclusions: Our paper argues for alternative approaches which are culturally appropriate for health research and for improved health outcomes of marginalised groups. In addition, we argue that participatory and transformative research methods which recognises individual and communities' assets are needed. We hope that the lessons that we share in this paper can contribute towards a respectful and good research practice among the marginalised population groups in our context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some research studies in South Africa have shown that existing intellectual property laws have managed to protect Indigenous Knowledge held by indigenous people. However, more needs to be done, particularly regarding the recognition of indigenous laws when protecting Indigenous Knowledge in research publications. In this paper, we explore how intellectual property rights are being handled in studies involving Indigenous Knowledge and the teaching and learning of school science in South Africa. Three sample case studies and interviews with Indigenous Knowledge researchers were used to generate data. This analysis, guided by the Indigenous Knowledge Intellectual Property rights, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems content analysis conceptual frameworks, focused on the Indigenous Knowledge and its source, rationale for its protection, and methods used to protect it. We complemented case study data with 10 interviews of Indigenous Knowledge group members at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, on their understanding of the intersection of intellectual property with innovation in Indigenous Knowledge research. Data shows that the rights of Indigenous Knowledge holders have not received 'full' recognition. We recommend that in research publications there should be a 'connection' between intellectual property laws and indigenous laws for knowledge holders to receive the recognition that they deserve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I contribute to critical literature on human rights practice by emphasizing how communities in South Africa leverage emerging transnational human rights norms to make progressive claims to property based on a revitalized customary law. I show the extent to which international Indigenous and peasant peoples' rights are an important interpretive resource in contemporary struggles against the powers of autocratic traditional leaders and extractive industry. In an effort to emphasize the agency of rural communities, I develop a conceptual framework examining 'law from below' and the importance of studying 'property in the margins'. I demonstrate that the use of Indigenous rights norms in South African litigation and social struggle is a process of human rights vernacularization in reverse whereby norms are developed locally through struggle and deliberation and translated into legal venues, effecting shifts in human rights norms and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the effects of the customer-to-customer co-creation experiences of savings/credit groups in the African context and how savings/credit groups influence financial capability and enhance financial well-being. Design/methodology/approach: Using purposive sampling, a study of a total of 18 focus groups was conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. Nine urban-based savings/credit groups were drawn from across South Africa and additional nine, rural-based savings/credit groups were studied in the Monduli district of Tanzania. Findings: Findings demonstrate that the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which promotes customer-to-customer interaction, is the cornerstone of the customer-to-customer co-creation experience. Ubuntu philosophical principles were found to influence the dialogue, access, risk and transparency model of co-creation and customer-dominant logic. The results show further that customer-to-customer co-creation experience positively influences the cognitive, financial, personal and social experiences of members. Specifically, it was found that cognitive and financial experiences positively influence financial satisfaction, financial self-esteem, financial self-efficacy and financial capability, all of which enhance financial well-being. In addition, personal and social experiences positively influence equality, self-confidence, entrepreneurial skills and motivation that in turn enhance social well-being. Research limitations/implications: This study has implications for many different stakeholders concerned with the financial inclusion of low-income consumers, particularly in the southern part of Africa. Originality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore the effects of customer-to-customer co-creation experiences in traditional financial services settings in order to understand how these indigenous financial services influence the financial capability and financial well-being of co-creation members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Māori-language newspaper,Te Pipiwharauroa, vigorously supported the British side during the South African War (1899–1902). With a British policy that the conflict was to be a ‘white man's war’, Māori were officially omitted from serving as soldiers in the New Zealand contingents to South Africa. For Māori who sought to engage with the mainstream Pākehā (European) society in a meaningful way, the exclusion demonstrated that full citizenship had not yet been attained, but supporting the war allowed some degree of participation and acknowledgement. However, a number of other elements also contributed to the paper's pro-war stance. Two of the leading commentators were Rēweti Kōhere, who edited the paper on behalf of the Anglican Church, and Āpirana Ngata, the leader of an activist group that sought to reform and advance Māori society. This essay examinesTe Pipiwharauroa's reporting of the war, and explores how their schooling, tribal loyalties to church and state, notions of race, and their reformist agenda all influenced their interpretation of the war, an imperial event of international interest, to a local Māori audience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is an opinion paper that takes issue with glib referencing to policing professionalism by politicians in South Africa. As such it juxtaposes the real and the normative situation to policing professionalism in South Africa as seen by an opinionista with the status of an indigenous outsider participant observer. The real situation regarding policing professionalism, as pronounced and practised by the political elite in South Africa, is a far cry away from scientific peer reviewed evidence on the imperatives of policing professionalism in our country. The latter should be regarded as the normative situation, the place where we actually want to be. However, what South Africans hear and see about the interplay between politics and policing, read in the works of the Fourth Estate's muckraking specialists and identified in the SAPS occupational environment, differs drastically from the conceptual and contextual analysis of policing professionalism as reflected in available research. The value of an informed opinion by an Indigenous Outsider Participant Observer, as compared to a traditional, more conservative, approach to epistemology, should not be underestimated: it contributes to the discourse on ontological pluralism. It therefore provides a different (and, for some scholars, uncomfortable) view of describing and evaluating phenomena in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Indigenous groups in South Africa, collectively referred to as Khoe-San, which includes the San and the Khoikhoi. It provides information about the estimated percentage of the Indigenous population in South Africa, It mentions that South Africa voted in favor of adopting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In their article 'Striking Back' and 'Clamping down': An Alternative Perspective on Judicial Review, Carol Harlow and Richard Rawlings consider the ways in which an executive may respond to judicial decisions which find against it. They organize such responses or 'tactics' into 'striking back' according to which the executive attempts to nullify the effect of the judgment, and 'clamping down' in terms of which the government attempts to prevent future adverse judgments. Harlow and Rawlings consider such tactics in the context of the United Kingdom and find that there has not been a significant change in tactics in the country's transition from a system of pure parliamentary sovereignty to one influenced by European law and the Human Rights Act 1998. In this paper I consider the practices of 'striking back' and 'clamping down', identified by Harlow and Rawlings, in the context of South Africa. I pose the question whether there has been a change of tactics in South Africa moving from a system of parliamentary sovereignty to one of constitutional supremacy. I also consider how effective these tactics have been under each system. My finding is that there has been a significant change in tactics in South Africa, as the Constitution has placed restraints on the tactics available to the government in striking back and clamping down, leading the government to resort to more extreme measures which in turn threaten South Africa's constitutional democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of multilingual education can be regarded as a force that is driving change in language teaching and learning. The existing literature refers to the positive impact of new discourses and interventions on non-English home-language speakers' efforts to learn English successfully as a subject in school. However, the effectiveness of English 2nd Language (EL2) teaching interventions remains a bone of contention. In this paper, I shall therefore investigate whether or not issues of mother-tongue and multilingual education have been placed at the centre of educational reform. The paper is based on a situation analysis of multilingual language policies in 18 institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Unisa (a national and international university) is perceived as a major force in achieving this goal in South Africa was found that students' perceptions of language matters are not reflected in Unisa's language policy planning. Narratives and document analysis are used as a method to collect data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on social work research with displaced families in the Western Cape, South Africa, who have experienced both the historical trauma of their slave past and the trauma of displacement during apartheid. In a similar context, aboriginal academic writers have found that initial studies of intergenerational trauma did not take into account the historical ordeal of colonialism which they believe has left its mark on aboriginal communities today. Intergenerational trauma has also been based on research with holocaust survivors. For this research paper, a postcolonial indigenous research paradigm was implemented owing to the colonial history of Cape Town. Collective narrative practice and participatory learning action techniques were used to decolonise the theoretical and methodological approach. Foucault's counter-memories and counter-histories were applied to critically engage with the research findings to include the "unofficial" stories of slave descendants in social work discourse where these stories have largely been ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the paradoxes and difficulties attending the notion of indigenous knowledge in South Africa are reviewed and an alternative dialogue about intellectual heritage is proposed. Beginning with a survey of debates on 'indigenous knowledge' and sciences in India, Australia and Latin America, the discussion draws attention to differences in regional discussions on the subject of knowledge diversity. Turning to the South African context, the paper foregrounds contradictions in the debate on traditional medicines and the sciences in relation to HIV. The bifurcation of 'indigenous knowledge' and 'science' is argued against. Debates on both indigenous knowledge and science within the critical humanities in South Africa have been characterised by denunciation: an approach which does not facilitate the important discussions needed on intellectual heritage, or on the relationship between sciences and coloniality. In dialogue with current research on the anthropology of knowledge, strategies are proposed to broaden the possibilities for scholarship on knowledge, sciences, and different ways of understanding the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines a critical analysis of two of a series of three operas that were produced by Gauteng Opera, South Africa, and presented at the Soweto Theatre in 2016 under the generic title of Cula Mzansi (which means "Sing South Africa"). The three operas were Bongani Ndodana-Breen's Hani, Peter Klatzow's Words from a Broken String, and Martin Watt's Tronkvoël, with the first two being the subject of the current analysis. The authors argue that the inclusion of indigenous themes and elements in these operas may be read as a strategic ploy that was meant to transform the operatic form and give it local cultural relevance and appeal. The purpose of the analysis was to assist current and future generations of South African theatregoers to experience some of the possible ways in which the operatic form can be transformed. This transformation is deemed necessary in order to make opera more appealing to the majority of previously disadvantaged black South Africans, notwithstanding the genre's negative historical baggage in many parts of the world where it is largely viewed as an elite form. The authors argue that the inclusion of decidedly indigenous South African cultural elements in these operas in terms of music, costume and setting allowed for the depiction of stories that could more easily relate to the majority of previously marginalised South African communities. They further argue that this strategy had the potential to localise and decolonise this cultural art form in ways deliberately meant to reach a much wider appeal in post- apartheid South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the presentation of rock art to the public, and perceptions of indigenous identity, by focusing on two rural South African rock art visitor centers. Both visitor centers were designed in the early 2000s to provide tangible benefits to people in rural areas and also to present rock art in a challenging and exciting new way - one that would dovetail with the central tenets of the "new South Africa". Fifteen years on, this paper considers the extent to which the visitor centers have succeeded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1834 and 1853 the British colonial army fought three wars with the Xhosa peoples who resided on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony of South Africa. Based on the published and unpublished diaries, journals, correspondence, and memoirs of British soldiers who served in these wars, this paper examines how these wartime experiences led to the creation of a military knowledge system of the Xhosa that stereotyped them as treacherous savages and merciless barbarians. Further, this essay argues that these stereotypes played a crucial role in the conquest of the Xhosa by justifying policies of dispossession and subjugation in the name of colonial security, and allowing British soldiers to conduct unlimited warfare against them. In this regard, the British military knowledge system of the Xhosa casts long shadows of violence and distrust over the history of South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades there has been a remarkable paradigm shift in Public Administration. Traditional Public Administration was in dire need for a change of a New Public Administration (NPA) approach in the 1980s. From early 2000s, the NPA began to be subjected to heavy criticism, which influenced public administration to take complete control of different reforms and approaches regardless of their diversity, complexity, hybrid and contradictory situations rather than offering the perfect approach and reform to the public sector. The New Public Management (NPM) and Post-New Public Management (Post-NPM) paradigms emerged in times whereby the NPA was already experiencing a massive deconstruction and reconfiguration of the public sector management. To scan and understand the remarkable paradigm shift in the field and practice of public administration, this study applies both NPM and Post-NMP to examine different views, principles, values and norms, and reform proposals for South African Public Administration. Methodologically, this study used qualitative research methods with the aid of secondary data to evaluate both the NPM and post-NPM paradigms, criticisms, arguments, challenges, and changes in public policy implementations. Recommendations are provided based on the existing challenges confronting the current public administration in South Africa. This study contributes to literature, new policy proposals and research within public administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional African medicine often carries with it a perception and stigma of being irrational and ungrounded in scientific method in academia. One reason for this common prejudicial view of traditional African medicine is the failure to effectively interpret African traditional medicine concepts, as these are often metaphorical descriptions of the biological and psychological effects of plants or combinations of them used in the traditional medicine preparations. When translated into other languages such as English, these metaphorical descriptions of medicinal plant use can seem to incorrectly reflect mysticism and/or superstition with no scientific basis. This difficulty in interpreting cultural descriptions of medical phenomena, together with the fact that there are hardly any academic papers engaging the science of South African traditional medicine in the biological sciences, is an indication of the disconnection between the humanities studies and the biomedical studies of South African traditional medicine. This paper investigates some popular examples of spiritual plant use in traditional South African medicine using phytopharmacological studies together with anthropological fieldwork methods, demonstrating the empirical basis for use of some plants in divination (by producing clarity of thought or dreams). The examples also reveal the phytochemical and biomedical foundations of the South Bantu speaking traditional healers' explanations of why and how various spiritually used plants have medicinal value. The challenge for scientists (such as botanists) is to effectively translate and interpret cultural and language based descriptions of spiritual medicinal plant use made by indigenous peoples while recognizing and discarding cultural prejudices that prevent a more comprehensive and integrated understanding of the science that intersects and forms the basis of many, though not all, cultural healing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antjie Krog's autobiographical novel A change of tongue presents a diversified conglomerate of different genres and parts. One of the major thematic focal points is the evident aim of the I-narrator/protagonist to reconstitute her identity as a white Afrikaans woman so as to establish her claim to belong, as a 'post-white' African, to the land and its aboriginal people. This paper investigates this intent through an analysis of the depiction of the physicality of the novel's main figures, and especially that of the I-narrator. This analysis, in turn, reveals a significant tendency towards mythicising, which highlights some of the problematic of the text, along with the inner contradictions inherent in the I-narrator's desire to be assimilated unquestionably and legitimately into the new socio-political context of her country. It will be shown that her attempt to re-write her personal white identity into a native African one leads to the individualistic and subjective misrepresentation of an established historical reality and context by mythicising it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a critical comparison between the Richard Meale/David Malouf opera Voss (1986) and the Philip Glass/Christopher Hampton opera Waiting for the Barbarians (2005). Strong thematic parallels link both works that, separated by only twenty years, are fundamentally different in musical conception and idiom. Both operas, based on central novels by two Nobel laureates, engage with the relationship between the colonizers and the indigenous peoples. Both novels investigate the limits of language and writing. Voss is significant in its interrogation of national identity and indigenous rights, both from the novel's perspective of the 1950s and the opera's 1980s view, whereas Barbarians obliquely deals with the situation current in the late 1970s in South Africa, which in its operatic reworking has situated it as a veiled critique of the conduct of the Iraq war and the post-9/11 world. The novel's allegorical mode is particularly suitable for operatic adaptation and has found perhaps its ideal counterpart in the minimalistic idiom with its disruption of signification and use of symbols. Voss's tonally eclectic musical style, in contrast, represents interiority and subjectivity through harmonic, melodic and rhythmic complexity, which suits the novel's obsession with the possibilities of communication transcending space and time. While musically very different, in this sense it is connected with the minimalist idiom of Barbarians that offers a radical departure from 'mainstream' opera with its flexible concept of time and non-linear narratives. Meale's aesthetic, however, can be seen as the antithesis of Glass's, and this paper will investigate whether Barbarians does, or even can, explore subjectivity and its depiction of the complexities of thought and emotion contained in a novel such as Coetzee's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a short report of a ‘safari’ held in conjunction with the International Congress of Nutrition in September 2005, in Futululu, St. Lucia, South Africa. Participants were several members of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences Task Force on Indigenous Peoples' Food Systems and Nutrition, other interested scientists and members of the Kwa Zulu indigenous community. The paper describes the rationale for and contributions towards understanding what might be successful interventions that would resonate among indigenous communities in many areas of the world. A summary of possible evaluation strategies of such interventions is also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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ABSTRACT: Black South African English is generally regarded as the variety of English commonly used by mother-tongue speakers of South Africa's indigenous African languages in areas where English is not the language of the majority. This paper explores some of the problems involved in defining this variety, problems such as whether it is a `new' variety of English or a dialect, and problems relating to whose English it is: the English of those learners who have encountered only a smattering of English in informal contexts or the variety of English acquired during formal schooling. The second half of the paper focuses on the possible future of Black South African English (BSAE) against the backdrop of South Africa's new multilingual policy. Reasons for the continued appeal of English are examined, alongside the range of factors influencing the possible future growth of BSAE as a distinct variety. It is argued that South Africans are unlikely ever to be free not to learn English, owing to the huge economic, political and ideological constraints which make the `choice' of English inevitable. The success of current efforts to resist value judgements and recognise the worth of BSAE will depend not only on the goodwill of South Africans, and on the cooperation of all speakers of English, world-wide, but on the rate at which the variety drifts away from recognised standard forms of English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite it being widely recognised that the Bushmen of southern Africa have the oldest DNA in the world, and that they are the first peoples of the region, their voices are often the last to be heard in matters pertaining to their continued existence. They have faced centuries of ethnocide, dispossession and marginalisation, a situation perpetuated under the new democratic governments of southern Africa. Besides oversimplified and outright inaccurate portrayals of the Bushmen as 'primitive man' throughout the period of colonisation, they have more recently been romanticised in idyllic portrayals in tourism marketing. While this has resulted in many deciding to distance themselves from their culture, others who at first eagerly embraced tourism, have been put on show like "animals in a zoo" for tourists to view the 'exotic and primitive indigenous people of Africa'. This has contributed to a trivialisation and commodification of their culture, with only few success stories. This study traces the history of the Bushmen both in terms of their invidious position in southern Africa and in tourism. It examines two juxtaposing examples of Bushmen tourism ventures and argues that by embracing both the traditional and modern, such ventures can succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article appraises the requirements for the validity of a customary marriage. It peruses two eras separated by a statute called the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 (RCMA). Prior to delving into what the requirements for validity before the RCMA were, the article differentiates between peremptory and directory provisions. These terms are usually applied in interpreting statutes. They also find application in determining the requirements of the validity of customary law. The era before the RCMA lists essential requirements for a valid customary marriage. The gist of these requirements is as follows: consent of the bride and bridegroom (spouses), consent of the bride’s father or guardian (parents), payment of lobolo, the handing over of the bride and the absence of a civil marriage by either spouse. If any of these requirements were not met, there was no valid customary union. The RCMA added more requirements which seem to address formal and customary law requirements. Both prospective spouses need to be 18 years or older, with certain exceptions, and must consent to getting married in terms of customary law. These requirements are peremptory. The customary law requirements relate to the negotiation and celebration of such a marriage. These requirements remain essential. Unlike formal requirements, these requirements allow indigenous African people a certain latitude. As a result, they are directory. This article further deliberates on certain issues regarding the requirements of customary marriages that became contentious. This includes the delivery of lobolo, the handing over of the bride, polygamous and dual marriages, and the registration of customary marriages. In conclusion, it is shown that customary law is a rapidly growing independent source of law. The requirements for validity must be comprehended with this flexibility in mind and should not unnecessarily be held as being static. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay will critically analyse how conquest that resulted in white settler colonialism laid the foundation for epistemic violence. Epistemic violence, which took the form of the imposition of the law of the European conqueror in the wake of land dispossession in 1652 in South Africa is the fundamental problem this essay will critically engage with. We will rely on the Azanian philosophical tradition as a theoretical framework to critique this legal epistemic violence. Our theoretical framework is in line with Afrikan jurisprudence, which is grounded in the culture and worldview of the Indigenous people conquered in wars of conquest. Fundamental to our argument is that the law of the European conqueror, which was imposed through conquest is a Eurocentric enterprise, which seeks to negate the Afrikan worldview and culture and reinforce historic injustice. It is important to note that epistemic violence commenced with the issuing of papal bulls, which undergirded conquest and white settler colonialism in South Africa. The thesis of the essay is that in the wake of conquest and the attendant imposition of the law of the European conqueror, white settlers used their law to technicalise issues of historic injustice such as land dispossession. It is in this sense that this essay seeks to contribute to the decolonisation of law by foregrounding the worldview and culture of the Indigenous conquered people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a critical attempt to problematise the notions of European Modernity and Rationality. It is fundamentally an Afrikan philosophical critique of epistemic violence that comes with European Modernity and Rationality. It argues that European Modernity triumphed in "South Africa" following unjust conquest of the Indigenous people since 1652, which was characterised by loss of sovereignty and epistemicide. This resulted in the violent imposition of the law and jurisprudence of White settlers, which are antithetical to Afrikan law and jurisprudence. This epistemicidal nature of White settler colonialism manifests itself through the legal technicalisation of issues of historical injustice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance The aim of the study was to identify and document plants traditionally used to manage HIV and treat its opportunistic infections (OIs) in Mpoza, a rural village located in the Mount Frere Alfred Nzo District, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Materials and methods: Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 18 traditional health practitioners from January 2012 to August 2012 to obtain information about medicinal plants used in the management of HIV and treatment of OIs. Results Seventeen plant species belonging to 12 families were identified for the management of HIV and treatment of OIs in Mpoza. The identified plant species belonged mostly to the families Asparagaceae (12%), Araliaceae (12%), Apiaceae (12%), Xanthorrhoeaceae (12%) and Lamiaceae (12%). The remaining 40% of identified plant species was evenly split over seven families - Urticaceae, Hypoxidaceae, Leguminosae, Verbenaceae, Rosaceae, Compositae and Rutaceae. The most frequently used medicinal plants were Hypoxis hemerocallidea (85%), Asparagus densiflorus (68%) and Lessertia frutescens (68%). The leaves (43.5%) and roots (21.7%) were the most frequently used plant parts, usually prepared as infusions and decoctions for oral administration. Conclusion This study provides documentation of medicinal plants used in the management of HIV and treatment of commonly associated OIs, which might provide a potential lead that will significantly contribute in reducing the burden of HIV infections in South Africa. We envisage that this paper will provide some background for further studies in developing new, effective, safe and affordable plant-derived medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Boophone disticha is the most common member of the South African Amaryllidaceae used extensively in traditional medicine of the various indigenous population groups, including the Sotho, Xhosa and Zulu as well as the San. This survey was carried out to identify and highlight areas relevant to the traditional usage of Boophone disticha. Pharmacological aspects were examined with the purpose of reconciling these with the traditional usage of the plant. In relation to phytochemical make-up, particular attention was paid on how its alkaloid constitution might corroborate the various biological effects manifested by the plant. Materials and methods: Information gathering involved the use of four different database platforms, including Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, SciFinder® and Scopus. Arrangement and detailing of this information is as reflected in the various sections of the paper. Results: Sixteen categories were identified under which Boophone disticha finds use in traditional medicine. These were shown to include general usage purposes, such as ‘cultural and dietary’, ‘well-being’, ‘personal injury’, ‘divinatory purposes’, ‘psychoactive properties’ and ‘veterinary uses’. Furthermore, traditional usage was seen to involve six body systems, including functions pertaining to the circulatory, gastrointestinal, muscular, neurological, respiratory and urinary systems. The four remaining categories relate to use for inflammatory conditions, cancer, malaria and tuberculosis. Overall, three areas were discernible in which Boophone disticha finds most usage, which are (i) ailments pertaining to the CNS, (ii) wounds and infections, and (iii) inflammatory conditions. In addition, several aspects pertaining to the toxic properties of the plant are discussed, including genotoxicity, mutagenicity and neurotoxicity. Conclusion: The widespread ethnic usage of Boophone disticha has justified its standing as a flagship for the Amaryllidaceae and its relevance to South African traditional medicine. Furthermore, its promising pharmacological and phytochemical profiles have stimulated significant interest in the clinical realm, especially in the areas of cancer and motor neuron disease chemotherapy. These collective properties should prove useful in steering the progress of the plant towards a wider audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: This paper provides ethnobotanical information on medicinal plants used to treat diarrhoea in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Documentation of this nature usually provides the basis for selecting medicinal plants for future phytochemical and pharmaceutical studies aimed at developing new, effective and affordable plant-derived diarrhoea remedies. Aim of the study: To record and document medicinal plants used by the Bapedi traditional healers to treat diarrhoea in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Materials and methods: In order to record and document medicinal plants used by the Bapedi traditional healers to treat diarrhoea, 51 healers from 17 municipalities covering Capricorn, Sekhukhune and Waterberg districts in the Limpopo Province, South Africa were interviewed between January and July 2011. Data collected included the names of plants, plant part(s) used, methods of herbal preparation, administration, dosage and duration of treatments. Voucher specimens of the plants used by the Bapedi traditional healers to treat diarrhoea were collected, identified and deposited as future reference material at the Larry-Leach Herbarium (UNIN), University of Limpopo. Results: A total of 20 plant species representing 16 families and 20 genera were found to be commonly used by the Bapedi traditional healers to treat and manage diarrhoea in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The largest proportion of the medicinal plants belonged to the families Anacardiaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Malvaceae (10% each). The most frequently used species were Punica granatum (39.2%), Grewia bicolor (33.3%), Dombeya rotundifolia (21.6%), Commiphora marlothii (19.6%) and Acacia senegal (13.7%). The roots were the most commonly used plant part (50%), followed by leaves (20%), bark (15%), fruits (10%), pericarp, seed, tuber and whole plants (5% each). Mono therapies based on preparations made from a single plant species were the most dominant (90%). All medicinal preparations were taken orally for 1 week or until diarrhoea subsided. The therapeutic claims of the medicinal plants documented in this study are well supported by literature, with 70% of the species having anti-diarrhoeal properties or are used as diarrhoea remedies both in South Africa and also in other countries. Conclusion: This study reveals that local communities in the Limpopo Province, South Africa still depend on traditional medicines for basic healthcare; and the use of traditional medicines is still an integral part of their socio-cultural life. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, the author explains the creation of the exhibition "AmaBandla Ama-Afrika Exhibition," which featured the work of South African photographer Martin West in Soweto, South Africa. The photographs largely depicted the spiritual practices and worship in Soweto's African Independent Churches in the 1960s and 1970s. Focus is given to the way in which these photographs capture the way in which such spiritual practice combined indigenous South African values with European colonial Christianity in the context of apartheid. A number of photographs from the exhibition are presented as well.

The article explores the history of indigenous political institutions and tax administration in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Emphasis is given to the double taxation of rural communities by both indigenous authorities and the national government and how that impacts economic growth and social change. Other topics include the labor mobilization of agricultural workers, levies paid under white rule, and constitutional authority.

Archaeologists commonly cite the high mobility of pastoralists and destruction by modern development and agriculture to explain the low number of herder sites known to date. This paper presents an alternative explanation. Here it is argued that the type of research itself is at least partly responsible for the limited results. The focus on deeply stratified archaeological deposits in caves and coastal middens at the expense of open landscape surveys, the persistence of typological classification and the lack of research into the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Khoekhoen are presented as causal factors. A dominant theoretical model links all three. The cultural identity or 'dichotomy model' requires deep deposits and large numbers of artefacts in order to classify assemblages as either produced by hunters or by herders. The dominant model also encourages a focus on the pre-colonial period, as hunter and herder identities are thought to have become less distinct after colonial settlement. In contrast, results of recent work suggest that the best methods for recognising herders in the archaeological record may involve open landscape survey and the study of low-density sites, the study of spatial and technological organisation and the use of a wider range of historical sources, including those from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resources have long been said to be under the sovereign ownership of the states in whose borders they are found. Sovereignty grants such a state not only the ownership but also the power to regulate their access and use. States' inability to convert the resources into tangible socio-economic development has witnessed massive contractual agreements with multinational companies to harness the same. Multinational companies and state contractual arrangements seem to have ignored other potential stakeholders like communities dependent on natural resources for their survival. Consequently, communities such as those of indigenous peoples who depend on available natural resources like rivers, lakes, forests and other ecological resources are victimised in the state-multinational contractual arrangements and implementation. Internationally, principles such as consultation and free and prior-informed consent seem to regulate access and use of resources located in indigenous communities. This article shows how such principles guarantee the indigenous communities their existence in cases of large-scale development in their territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued in this article that many modern-day African states share a set of characteristics in their political ideology and economic doctrines which stem from a shared history of colonialism and forms of foreign occupation and subjugation of indigenous peoples. Policies such as black economic empowerment (BEE) in South Africa and indigenisation and economic empowerment (IEE) in Zimbabwe are archetypes of this policy explicitly aligned with this indigenisation project and designed to promote indigenous people's participation in economic activities. In the context of this political economy of empowerment-oriented political ideology and legislative and policy frameworks in African states, this article seeks to define the features of indigenous entrepreneurship, which is the natural focus of much of the indigenisation project. It is theorised in this article that these factors combine to form a unique type of entrepreneurship, here termed indigenous entrepreneurship in the modern African state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article relates the author's experiences of having worked as consultant with indigenous peoples in South Africa. He visited the two major San communities to assess the state-indigenous peoples relations. The author's critical ethnographic account based on the fieldwork done as part of the consultancy is presented.

Arbousset and Daumas were pioneer missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society who were sent to the country across the Orange River in 1833. In 1836 they undertook an extensive tour in the region now known as Lesotho and the Free State Province of South Africa. The report of their journey was published in 1846; only the second monograph to be published on Lesotho. The work became a seminal source on precolonial Basotho history, citing many landmarks and living places of groups occupying the interior. This paper attempts to trace the journey and to plot the sites as well as to identify the people mentioned; an attempt which proves successful in many cases, but in other cases indicates a need for further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonial misconceptions about the absence of depression and the lack of a psychologization of distress among Africans have long been refuted. However, cultural variation in depression in terms of symptomatic expression, conceptualization, explanatory models, and social responses is widely acknowledged. Insight into the cultural variation of depression is useful for providing appropriate care; however, few studies have explored cultural understandings of depression in African settings. In a depression vignette study of two displaced and marginalized San communities in South Africa, we conducted 20 semistructured interviews to explore causal interpretations and strategies for coping. Causal interpretations consisted of several dimensions, including life struggles and physical, psychological, and spiritual interpretations. Respondents primarily focused on life struggles in terms of socioeconomic and interpersonal problems. They described coping strategies as primarily addressing negative emotional and psychological affect through social support for relief, comfort, distraction, or advice on coping with the situation and emotions. In addition, religious coping and professional support from a social worker, psychologist, support group, or medications were mentioned. Findings illustrate that depression should be understood beyond individual suffering and be situated in its immediate social environment and larger sociopolitical setting. Interventions for depression therefore may benefit from a multilevel approach that addresses socioeconomic conditions, strengthens local resources, and fosters collaboration among locally appropriate informal and formal support structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians of colonial conquest have explored the emergence of various manifestations of racialised discourse about Africans during the numerous colonial wars in Southern Africa. To a slightly lesser extent they have also examined the impact of colonial conquest on the environment. The interconnectedness of the two has been less fully examined. One of the consequences of colonial expansion in what is now South Africa's Eastern Cape province was the emergence of a distinctive military discourse on Africans in general and the Xhosa in particular. Another was the destruction of large mammals previously endemic to the area. Hunting was part of the dominant masculine military ethos and the colonial record is replete with numerous examples of the close connection between colonial wars and hunting. The same record also contains accounts blaming indigenous people for the decline in wild animals – often simultaneously detailing the mass slaughter of animals by the narrators. This article argues that military attitudes to fauna and to indigenous people were interconnected and fed into a racialised discourse that had an impact beyond the military. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public libraries exist to serve the information needs of communities, meaning their services need to be reflective of those served communities. However, the literature points to under-usage of libraries among indigenous communities in South Africa, and suggests that the perceived irrelevance of libraries could be a contributing factor. The argument made in this article is for the involvement of communities in planning and implementing services, to enhance awareness, relevance and use of libraries. Such involvement would also provide a space for communities to contribute content based on their indigenous knowledge. In this qualitative multiple case study of purposively selected provincial library services in South Africa, data were collected using semi-structured interviews with library heads. The data were coded and categorised according to themes derived from the stated research questions. The findings show a disjuncture between the interpretation and application of the concept of community involvement – a misalignment that has a negative impact on the ability of libraries to provide inclusive services. A framework for community involvement is suggested as a way of enhancing the synergy between community information needs and public library service provision. The proposed framework identifies indigenous communities, libraries and archival institutions as key stakeholders in harnessing indigenous knowledge. It is recommended that a similar study be conducted with community librarians where the nuances of communities can be unveiled, given that the current participants were heads of library services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2001, an intact human burial (UCT 579) was accidentally uncovered during diamond mining activity on the Somnaas farm in Namaqualand and was subsequently excavated by the Archaeology Contracts Office. This find presented a rare opportunity to record the burial style, as very few in situ burials have been encountered in the Namaqualand region. The skeleton is that of an adult female, 26 ± 2 years old at death, radiocarbon dated to 1250 ± 70 BP (GX-32527). The grave was dug into the approximately +3 m mid-Holocene cobble beach, and the body placed in a flexed, approximately horizontal position. Grave goods (unusual in burials on theWest coast) included a lower grindstone, a Conus mozambicus pendant, a partial tortoise carapace bowl, and Raphicerus sp. phalanges (hoofs). d13C and d15N values indicate that this woman's diet included a substantial proportion of marine foods. Fragmentary remains from a second individual found in a trench nearby (UCT 643), were also collected and dated to 3490 ± 80 BP (GX-32528). d13C and d15N values indicate that this individual consumed a diet that consisted mostly of terrestrial foods. This information provides insight into the variability in burial practices and lifeways of ancient indigenous people in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]