Professor Mandla Makhanya, Vice Chancellor and Principal, Unisa;
Professor Catherine Odora Hoppers, Incumbent: DST/NRF South AfricanResearch Chair in Development Education, Unisa, South Africa;
Prof Crain Soudien, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Transformation and Social Responsiveness, University of Cape Town ;
Dr Gavin Andersson, Managing Director, Seriti Institute, Gauteng, South Africa;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Good morning and thank you for inviting me.
I read last week about Nokwanda Makunga, a botanist at Stellenbosch University, who has hardy perennials from the Karoo under careful scrutiny.
Sceletium is one plant she is scrutinising. It has traditionally been used by the San as a mood enhancer, pain reliever and sleeping aid. She thinks she might have found a South African generic for Prozac.
In her words: "This is where technology and traditional knowledge meet. We are generating the knowledge we hope will fuel the bio-economy."
That's my key message today in a nutshell.
Take another example. A winemaker in Stellenbosch has replaced imported oak wood with Rooibos wood in the wine making process. Is this the use of indigenous knowledge? Or simply import substitution? The good thing about Rooibos is that it preserves the wine naturally and there is no need for those bitter sulphites. The process is patented.
But before I say more let me restate IKS basics.
The local knowledge that has been passed on orally from generation to generation is a vital part of a nation's heritage. In South Africa indigenous knowledge has massive potential for research, development, innovation and social cohesion.
Indigenous knowledge offers great opportunities, not only to those who use it in their daily lives, but also to researchers, government agencies and commercial firms, both foreign and domestic. Indigenous knowledge is mostly stored in the memories of practitioners and holders and is passed down through the generations by word of mouth.
The oral nature of indigenous knowledge has also resulted in widespread misuse, misappropriation and biopiracy. This has been seen recently in the pelargonium, rooibos and honeybush cases. This is why effective strategies must be formulated and implemented to ensure the future protection, development and management of our IKS.
One of these strategies is the documentation and recording of IKS. The urgency of documenting indigenous knowledge in South Africa - and we are documenting through our recordal system - is underscored by the fact that we often lose our respected elders, before their indigenous knowledge has been recorded. It is often said that, when an old person dies in Africa, a whole library disappears.
We envisage that by 2015/16 all nine provinces will host a centre to facilitate the capturing, cataloguing, validation, preservation and dissemination of indigenous knowledge in participating communities.
The DST has supported IKS-based research, development and for almost 10 years now. It has funded two IKS research chairs, supported 12 PhD, 31 Masters, and 40 Honours students. It has also provided leadership in various advocacy and public awareness initiatives.
In 2007, we initiated the IKS Bioprospecting and Product Development Platform to identify and add value to products, processes and services inspired by indigenous knowledge holders and practitioners. In order to encourage collaboration, we included various indigenous knowledge-based communities of practice, universities, science councils and government departments in our plans. We have successfully facilitated collaboration between previously antagonistic and competitive stakeholders in a partnership model unique to South Africa.
As part of mainstreaming IKS, the Bioprospecting platform has focused on African traditional medicines, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals. The development and manufacture of high-end products in these three areas are intended to meet both the economic and the social needs of the stakeholders. They will assist in alleviating poverty through the creation of businesses, and improving people's lives by developing affordable medicines based on indigenous knowledge.
The IKS Bioprospecting and Product Development Platform provides the basis for ongoing work in the areas of medicines, health, nutrition, food technology, agroprocessing, cosmetics and beauty.
That's not all.
In line with our IKS-Based Technological Innovation Vision 2030, we have strengthened our human capital and research and development capabilities through the establishment of the IKS-based Research and Innovation institutes and Centres of Competence in IKS. We also have an IKS-Based Technological Innovation unit. The core function of this unit is to support IKS-based and bioeconomy-related research, development and innovation initiatives.
I am pleased to announce that, this month Cabinet approved the Protection, Promotion, Development and management of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Bill (IKS Bill). This Bill is a significant step forward in our efforts to protect our vast treasure chest of indigenous knowledge. We are currently busy preparing for the mandatory public engagement process.
These are some of the interventions we have undertaken as a country.
I hope that this conference will empower us to engage with the world in a manner that enhances not only our quality of life and but also our dignity.
I wish you well in your deliberations and look forward to the outcomes of this conference.
