About 200 000 traditional healers are regularly consulted by at least 70% of South Africans. To date, there has been no single statutory body to control these practitioners. But efforts are under way to integrate traditional medicine into the health-care system through legislation, albeit gradually.
Mpumalanga’s health department, once viewed as corrupt and inept, is getting back to business. When Hussein Verachia was appointed head of the department last year he inherited what he refers to as a "dysfunctional department". These are polite words to describe the situation he found.