Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, December 1998

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Column

Column In the Year of Science and Technology by Mongane Wally Serote

Dr Mongane Wally Serote is a Member of Parliament in South Africa (for the ANC), where he is chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture and Language, Science and Technology. He is also chairperson of the Steering Committee of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Programme.

In 1998, which South Africa has declared to be the Year of Science and Technology, an important partnership has been established between students from historically disadvantaged universities and indigenous practitioners. Students have conducted an audit of indigenous knowledge in various villages, and during the course of this audit a partnership has developed that narrows the gap between African intellectuals and African communities. This gap, which sadly enough is a norm in Africa, has delayed the process of development in various countries on the continent that have struggled for liberation. The gap is also a factor in the subjugation of indigenous knowledge.

The partnerships forged between students and communities are countering the effects of the dislocation of intellectuals from their communities. In this way, the partnerships will contribute to the process of transforming South African society, which is a cornerstone of government policy.

These partnerships put on the national agenda the need for fundamental shifts in paradigms as well as the parameters of knowledge. Modern science and technology might facilitate the transfer of knowledge, but indigenous knowledge will contribute to the development of humanity and will have an impact on the manner in which countries relate to each other. This is why the balance between these two bases of knowledge should change.

Such shifts in the bases of knowledge will empower entire countries as well as their peoples. These shifts require that also the nationals of South Africa generate and articulate new ideas. The Indigenous Knowledge Systems Programme in South Africa is pregnant with this possibility, particularly if effective partnerships can be put into place, and if the resources, space and time for innovation can be created. To achieve this, the government, the private sector, the universities, and the indigenous intellectuals and practitioners themselves must come to see indigenous knowledge systems as a national heritage. They must work together as partners to promote competitiveness, create employment, develop human resources, sustain the environment, and promote the exchange of information.

We need to engage in research and training which uses indigenous knowledge as a basis for innovation. For this to happen, indigenous intellectuals must accept university-trained intellectuals as carriers of 'developed' knowledge. Conversely, university-trained intellectuals must accept that indigenous knowledge is based on a deep understanding and familiarity with the natural world; it is a social tool that has maintained and sustained people in country which was otherwise hostile to them. Finally, indigenous knowledge, which needs legal protection, can contribute to the African Renaissance by being integrated into curricula at all educational levels, and by being developed into enterprises.

1 See also the report on the workshop which launched the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Programme.

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