By 2025, Sangomas Will Likely Be Unable To Practise Without Registration
New regulations likely to come into force early next year, will see South Africas roughly 200 000 traditional healers having to register with a regulatory council who will oversee their practice.
The health department says its a step towards getting Western and traditional medicine to work together, which will help to give all people good healthcare.
To register, traditional healers will need proof that theyve completed 12 months of training with a teacher whos approved by the council, and pay yearly registration fees.
But the Traditional Healers Organisation says such integration must be without Eurocentric methods dominating and dictating our traditional practices.
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At weddings in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, Gogo Selby Mawelele mixes Shangaan disco tunes.
At his homestead in nearby New Forest village, he mixes herbs to treat psychiatric disorders, diabetes, constipation, cast out evil spirits and help estranged couples love each other again.
When they need healthcare, about 70 of South Africans, mostly in rural areas, visit sangomas like Mawelele first before they go to a medical doctor, or they dont go to a health clinic at all.
But new rules expected to start being enforced early in 2025 will see izangoma diviners and other traditional healers having to register with the Interim Traditional Health Practitioners Council , to align their work to a more formal system, says spokesperson and chairperson of the registration, education and accreditation committee, Sheila Mbhele.