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13 March 2009

Programme director
Professor Marwala and Professor Coville
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a travesty of justice that almost every book written about science and mathematics claims that the foundation of these fields of knowledge was laid by nations outside of the African continent. Scientific discoveries are now confirming that the accomplishments of these nations were actually dwarfed by the spectacular achievements of African scientists in the Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Songhai, and a few hundred years ago, Munamutapa and Mapungubwe.

What is even more astonishing is that the so-called fathers of science and mathematics, in their own confessions, attribute everything they knew to these early African people. It is mainly due to the arrogance of western scholars that Africa was stripped of its writings and achievements, and some of South Africa’s universities are also guilty of this misinformation.

Ladies and gentlemen, you invited me to discuss the “African science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems” topic. It is therefore important to mention that the history of science, logic and mathematics originated on the African continent. There is so much evidence hidden away in the libraries of the world. And I dare every scientist to do the most scientific thing by looking for the evidence, and present it to the world.

Ancient African scientists understood the foundations of mathematics by fully appreciating the science of logic, which was not a Greek invention. A conscious walk through an African village outside this city will demonstrate that Africans fully mastered both logic and mathematics in terms of their original social structures, socio-economic and communal ways of living, agriculture, traditional medicine, indigenous food technologies, animal husbandry, environmentally sensitive architecture, water resources management and general knowledge production and management.

The use of metaphors was the most abstract of way of understanding the universe and its interdependent, interrelated and interconnected principles which underscored the unified field theory. The concept of “Botho or Ubuntu” is not only logical, but is also mathematically relevant in its assumption that every variable of life has a role to play. These are the principles that govern quantum physics, biotechnology, and organic chemistry. Failure to comprehend these principles led to inhumane scientific discoveries that are now responsible for the death of the planet.

This demonstrates the advanced understanding of logic, mathematics and science that ancient Africans had. It is knowledge that determines the nature of our being in terms of policy formulation, social-economic development, human dynamics, progress, prosperity and improved quality of life. In other words, scientific advancement without social stability, healthy societies and equitable wealth distribution is illogical and inhumane.

I also understand that the paradigms within which modern scientists are operating are competitive, and have no room for healthy cooperation and sharing.
That is why this is often referred to as a ‘dog-eat-dog-world’. But through the science of logic, ancient African scientists taught that cooperation is superior to competition. This principle was well appreciated by female farmers or indigenous agricultural scientists. In this province they called this scientific principle Letšema.

It is for these and other reasons that government decided to promote Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). This is a science or knowledge that is sensitive to the needs of our people. From the beginning of time, the greatest and most progressive of civilisations invested their best minds and resources in their developmental programmes using humane sciences in agriculture, business, social engineering, health and medical science, and other scientific innovations. South Africa is waking up to this reality through the development of indigenous knowledge systems.

There are millions of organic intellectuals unknown to the world, but their inventions and scientific discoveries are the precursors to great scientific discoveries.

These are the village experts in the science of cultural astronomy, the secrets of celestial bodies as they related to seasons and agriculture, medical cures, health products, pesticides, etc. The science of masonry and building architecture is a demonstration that Africans were well vested in the knowledge of physics, geometry, chemistry and other complex mathematical and scientific concepts.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to share with you our commitment to the role of African Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems within the Science and Technology Department. As a sequel to the adoption of the National IKS Policy in 2004, the department established the National Office on Indigenous Knowledge System (NIKSO) in 2006.

The NIKSO is tasked to implement the IKS policy, which is the first of its kind in Africa, if not in the world. During the past three years, the NIKSO pioneered the IKS Research Management Model through one of our science councils, the National Research Foundation.

The model will be fully implemented after the completion of the pilot study later this year. It will afford organic intellectuals or ‘village’ scientist the opportunity to collaborate with conventional scientists in the production and development of indigenous products and services. 
 
Last year, a new Bachelor’s of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (B.IKS) Degree was developed and registered. This is the first of its kind in the world. The degree is a brainchild of the IKS Centre of Excellence in Curriculum Studies. Two universities in this province, the Universities of Venda and Limpopo, together with North West University, were central in the development of this degree.
Through this initiative, we will now be able to interface African science or IKS with other knowledge systems.

The department also manages the South African Research Chairs Programme, and IKS is also a beneficiary. The initiative is aimed at building human capital to conduct cutting edge research.

The first IKS research chair is in traditional medicines and indigenous health systems, which was awarded to the University of KwaZulu-Natal. This month will also see the selection of the second IKS Chair in Knowledge Systems Studies, whose main goal is to mainstream and interface IKS in the global body of knowledge. Progressive countries like India and China, are now building very strongly on their indigenous knowledge, and South Africa is also exploring the role of IKS in innovation, manufacturing and industry.

The department has developed a 10 years innovation plan (2008 to 2018). The plan has, as one of its priorities, the “Farmer to Pharma” grand challenge, and IKS is one of the key pillars of this strategic objective. This grand challenge adopts a dynamic and innovative approach to ensure consistency and relevance with the rapid development of traditional medicines and the phyto-therapy industry.

Closely related to the medicines is the food technology or nutraceuticals flagship programme based on indigenous knowledge. The cosmeceuticals industry is also a niche through which the potential of indigenous technologies innovations can be realised.

To ensure the safety and quality of our products, and facilitate the realisation of this grand challenge, the establishment of IKS laboratories is necessary. Through the bioprospecting and product development platform, we have been supporting IKS-based laboratories within our science councils and academic institutions. I applaud leaders and pioneers in these fields for including indigenous knowledge holders and practitioners in their projects.
I also want to urge various academic institutions, government departments and science councils to collaborate in crafting an industrial production model on the development of traditional medicines, indigenous food and cosmetics, which combines the use of indigenous knowledge and conventional technology.

Other initiatives central to the IKS policy include the need to document indigenous knowledge for protection and preservation. The NIKSO has commenced with the development of IKS databases. An audit report of existing databases housed at various institutions recommends that the NIKSO should collaborate with various institutions to ensure that our knowledge does not perish with its holders.

This will allow IK to be documented systematically for further development through various initiatives within communities. To facilitate this initiative, we are in the middle of piloting the first IKS Centre, which will be managed jointly by the University of Zululand and the Science Centre in Richards Bay.

Linked to the centres’ main activities is the establishment of the national recordal system, which is a multimedia information management system, used for research, training and dissemination of IK.

Documented and disseminated knowledge needs to be protected. As a result, we are fully participating, both at national and international level, in the changes being made to the intellectual property regimes. We are delighted that initiatives such as the E!lSeF-2009 appreciate the role of African Science and IKS, and that conventional scientists are beginning to recognise the role of IK in mainstream science.

You will recall that last year we organised an inaugural EXPO to demonstrate the economic value of products emerging from IK, indigenous technologies and innovations. We showcased the competitiveness of indigenous products and technologies to the global market, and highlighted the challenges facing holders and communities in translating their knowledge into wealth producing products and services.

Limpopo is the new bread basket of South Africa. As a result, we need to focus on indigenous technologies in food production, storage, processing, preservation, packaging and commercialisation. We are blessed with many resources and a good climate. We need to concentrate on developing indigenous technologies instead of importing inappropriate ones. The use of appropriate technologies most of which were developed by women will improve our food security and food production technologies.

Our ancestors believed in the tenet, “your food is your medicine, and your medicine your food.” This principle is relevant in the light of various health threats and chronic infectious, such as Human Immune Virus (HIV), diabetes and Tuberculosis (TB). Africa never new these kinds of conditions as its health systems were preventive. In cases where diseases infiltrated a community, the holistic and traditional way of restoring the sick to health was through the use of herbs, diet and spiritual healing.

Certain areas of this province, such as Mapungubwe and Thulamela, are known for their advanced technologies in mining. Were it not for our colonisers, our mining systems, which were environmentally friendly, would now be at their most advanced stages of evolution. There is a need to revisit indigenous environmental management technologies for energy production, given that modern civilisation is still struggling to develop alternative methods of energy and fuel production.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt in the hearts of IK holders that IKS is a scientific system developed from the millennia of scientific observation of the laws of nature, and experimentations to validate the usefulness of such observations. The world is now ready to accept IKS as one of the knowledge systems for addressing modern challenges.

May I conclude by thanking the organisers of Eding! International Science Festival for pioneering a dialogue on the role of conventional science and indigenous knowledge systems.

I trust we shall, in the future, see a lot of collaboration between indigenous knowledge systems experts and conventional scientists on issues concerning these communities.

Thank you for your attention.

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
13 March 2009
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za)