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Practitioners will have to pay registration fees to the council every year and show proof of being appropriately trained for the type of service they offer. (Photo supplied)

By 2025, sangomas will have to be registered to practise

The health department says new regulations likely to come into force early next year are a step towards getting Western and traditional medicine to work together

We have seen a decline in vultures in South Africa over the past 30 years. (Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images)

Balance needed between vulture conservation and traditional medicine

Dr Nomthandazo Manqele conducted a study on the role of vultures in traditional medicine and finds that healers share a desire to conserve the endangered, yet revered, species

Drakensberg Boys Choir. Photo: Supplied
Video

Drakensberg Boys Choir helps vulture conservation through song

The Drakensberg Boys Choir collaborate with George Philippart of The Voice Germany to raise awareness on vulture conservation

Gogo Simanjelo Stewart  consulting from her home. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Traditional healers zoom in on new ways of practice

Despite being largely sidelined, these essential workers have adapted to lockdowns, taken to technology and even attracted clients from abroad

African traditional medicines, similar to other traditional medicines such as those from China and India, have been used by African people long before the advent of “modern” medicine, and still continue to be used for the treatment of a range of diseases.

Traditional healers need new spaces

Proper facilities supported by well-researched cultural principles will go a long way to improving the image and perception of the practice of traditional medicine

Kougoed is a legal alternative to marijuana.

Bushmen cure-all offers locals a sustainable income

The commercial potential of intoxicating kougoed, or Sceletium tortuosum, is reinvigorating a Nourivier community in the Northern Cape.