M Mangena: Eding International Science Festival

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)