At the ninth session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore at WIPO in Geneva, the South African Minister for Science and Technology, Mosibudi Mangena, presented a working document on an Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy for South Africa.

The indigenous people of South Africa maintain extensive knowledge systems covering a wide range of fields, including cultural and religious practices, agricultural practices and health interventions. In response to international recognition of these bodies of knowledge in recent years, the South African government has put together a policy for indigenous knowledge (IK) systems in South Africa.

Four main IK system policy drivers have been identified:

• the affirmation of African cultural values;
• practical means for the development of services by traditional healers;
• the contribution of indigenous knowledge to the economy; and
• the interaction between indigenous knowledge systems and other knowledge systems to increase the rate of innovation.

Affirmation of African cultural values

There are two aspects to this driver, the first being redress and the second being globalization. In terms of redress, South Africa seeks to give expression to core constitutional principles and democratic values by creatively advancing the course of development of indigenous knowledge systems within the context of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms, and the furtherance of social justice, non-racialism and non-sexism.

With respect to globalizzation, the impact of globalization on each state affects decisions regarding the state's autonomy and policy-making capacity. This can also be beneficial, in that there recently has been an upsurge in the international recognition of the importance of indigenous knowledge systems. An example is the Convention on Biodiversity. It is globally recognized that there is a need to promote self-determination by indigenous knowledge holders and that they should be recognized as the owners of their cultural and intellectual property. This was set out in the Mataatua Declaration as early as 1993.

South Africa will seek to promote international indigenous knowledge collaborations by sharing best practices and by committing to common objectives with international partners who have similar interests.

Development of services by traditional healers

Traditional medicine has been recognized by the World Health Organization in its Traditional Medicine Strategy as a rapidly growing health system with economic importance. Up to 80% of the population in South Africa turn to traditional medicine for health intervention. In many cases traditional medicine is the most affordable and accessible option.

It is therefore essential that South Africa implements a national policy and regulatory framework for traditional medicine systems to ensure their safety, efficacy and quality. This policy and regulatory framework should also promote access to traditional medicine, research and development and the training of traditional health practitioners. With this aim, the Traditional Health Practitioners Act has been promulgated and the associated regulatory body, known as the Health Practitioners Council, has been established.

Contribution of IK to the economy

In the lower income sectors of agriculture and traditional medicine, innovators tend to be indifferent to sharing knowledge, due to the absence of either incentives or protection mechanisms. By creating economic incentives, the IK held by these innovators may be made available for development and commercialization. It is proposed that three main factors should be considered in order to engage the economic potential of IK systems: