23 September 2026
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Story Rorisang Rampheteng
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Photo Lunga Luthuli
The panellists attending the Heritage Day Lecture, from left to right: Honky Mafereka Alfred; Koko Manani; Dr Gcina Mtengwane from the Centre for Gender Africa Studies; Nkgono Matshediso; Koko Makhosi Mokoena; Gogo Motlalepula Geneva Moloi; UFS Spiritual Healer, and Tshidiso Mokoena.
A call for the preservation and protection of indigenous healing knowledge emerged from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Heritage Day Lecture on the Qwaqwa Campus on Monday 21 September 2026, where academics, traditional practitioners, students, and community representatives examined the role of indigenous medicines and healing practices in Southern African heritage.
The call was made during the Heritage Day Lecture, titled Indigenous Medicines and Healing Heritages in Southern Africa, hosted by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies in collaboration with the Directorate for International Partnerships and Relations.
Indigenous knowledge remains relevant
Acting Director of the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies, Prof Grey Magaiza, said indigenous knowledge should be recognised as a living body of knowledge rather than something belonging only to the past. “We recognise that the knowledge about herbs and medicines, plants, rituals, the human body, community well-being, and the relationship between people and the natural environment has been carried across generations,” said Prof Magaiza.
He said universities should reconsider how they engage with communities and traditional knowledge, particularly to avoid extracting knowledge without meaningful engagement with the communities that preserve it. “We want to move from an extractive relationship to one of engaging and learning with communities,” he said.
Protecting knowledge for future generations
The discussion also resonated with Gogo Motlalepula Geneva Moloi, a spiritual healer who attended the lecture. She said the event provided an important learning opportunity for young people undergoing spiritual or traditional calling, particularly around the responsibility to protect knowledge that is not meant for public disclosure.
She said younger generations needed to understand the importance of secrecy, respect, and perseverance as they went through their spiritual journeys.
Moloi also emphasised the importance of patients receiving appropriate healthcare and being monitored when receiving traditional or indigenous medicine. She said primary healthcare services had an important role to play in understanding a patient’s health status and ensuring that their condition was properly monitored alongside traditional treatment.
For Moloi, the discussion reinforced the importance of passing knowledge on responsibly, while ensuring that younger generations understood the responsibilities that come with carrying indigenous healing knowledge.
Qwaqwa Campus Principal, Prof Prince Ngobeni, said heritage included the knowledge, values, and practices passed from one generation to another. “Heritage is more than the traditions we inherit from those who came before us. It is the knowledge, values, practices, languages, beliefs, stories, and ways of life that help us understand where we come from and guide us in how we engage with the present and the future,” said Prof Ngobeni.
He said indigenous knowledge systems had been preserved through oral traditions, making it important for younger generations to learn from those who carry such knowledge. “This knowledge has been preserved through oral traditions and passed down through generations,” he said.
Prof Ngobeni also warned that indigenous healing knowledge could be lost if it were not appropriately documented and protected.
Respecting community ownership
The protection and ownership of indigenous knowledge formed part of the panel discussion, with participants considering issues including informed consent, cultural ownership, and the protection of knowledge that communities may regard as sacred or inappropriate for public circulation.
The discussion also considered the challenges posed by the increasing availability of information on digital platforms, where culturally sensitive knowledge can be shared beyond the communities from which it originates.
Prof Ngobeni said the recognition of indigenous medical practices should not create competition between different knowledge systems. “The recognition of indigenous medical practices does not require us to place different knowledge systems in competition with one another. Rather, it calls upon us to create space for respectful dialogue between indigenous knowledge and other forms of knowledge,” he said.
Strengthening university-community partnerships
Prof Ngobeni said universities had a responsibility to recognise knowledge that exists beyond formal academic institutions. “Institutions of higher learning have a responsibility not only to produce new knowledge, but also to recognise, interrogate, preserve, and contribute to knowledge that already exists,” he said.
He further highlighted the importance of partnerships between the University, traditional leadership, and surrounding communities. “As the University of the Free State, we recognise that the University does not exist separately from the communities around it. We are part of this society, and our responsibility extends beyond our campuses,” he said.
The lecture concluded with a call for indigenous healing knowledge to remain a living part of South African heritage while ensuring that it is protected, respected, and responsibly passed on to future generations. “May this Heritage Day celebration remind us that our heritage is not simply something we look back upon. It is a living inheritance, one that we must protect, enrich, and pass on,” said Prof Ngobeni.