The Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) have warned South Africans against false and misleading claims that any practising healer has the cure to the coronavirus.
In a statement released at the weekend THPs said they condoned anyone who claimed to have powers to cure or to treat the virus.
“We do not want our age-old African traditional practises to be dragged in the mud by people whose aim is to make money by any means necessary. We call on community members to dismiss such charlatans for who they are - they are dangerous impostors who will drive people to their graves. We must all remain at home so that we disrupt the transmission of this deadly virus.”
THPs spokesperson Mkhulu Solly Nduku said he was getting information and feedback from the sector on the ground and from practitioners on social media about potential charlatans.
“There are one or two people who have, on social media, sent this confusion. We had to quickly dispel that myth before it actually discredits or drags our sector into the mud because we know that it is always the case, when there is a new challenge, everyone wants to use our sector as a scapegoat and we are there to make sure we protect the integrity of our sector.”
He added that they were willing to work with law enforcement to ensure people who spread such misinformation were dealt with accordingly.
“We believe people who make those claims are not reputable traditional health practitioners. Every practitioner who is properly trained and initiated, they know the values and law. We are a sector that has worked hard to organise ourselves over the years.”
Nduku said the individuals who make claims to have cures for the virus were “hellbent to destroy our profession”.
“Even if they take our gear and wear it, we know they do not belong.”
With regard to staying at home and dealing with anxiety and stress, Nduku said there were various methods people could try.
“There are indiginous teas people can use like imphepho. It does a number of things like helping to calm down. It can also be used for fumigation and the symptoms of the flu so we encourage people to use it. There is also umhlonyane that can be used both medicinally and as an indiginous tea. Ubunwele has been researched and it has been found to work well as an immune booster There is also african potato, which works well to calm nerves as much as it is an immune booster. We encourage people to use these and consult their qualified practitioners in their respective areas.”
Nduku said the Covid-19 had affected their everyday work as they were unable to get to their clients and patients.
“We have patients who are mentally ill, whom we have to look after on a daily basis in our homes. We have patients who suffer from ailments that are chronic in nature and we have initiates that have to be taken through the process and we can’t leave them.”
Nduku added that the government failed to consult the traditional healers sector overall on the Covid-19 developments.
“There are more than 350 000 of us in the country. In terms of ratio it is 1 to 9 if you take the western trade health workers and compare them to us, for every one of them there are nine of us. It is a serious omission that has been made by our government and as a result of that there were no clear protocols provided in terms of guidance given to us as essential services.”
Nduku said it was important to include their sector as they formed part of essential services according to the constitution.
“We are dealing with a society that has been fed by a colonial education in various forms. Anything that is African is actually seen as ‘demon’. That mindset won’t change overnight. I have been inundated by people who run traditional and herbal pharmacies to say that when they were making enquiries they were told they are not essential services. That is a frustration as it infringes on their right to help the people. People have the right to make their own choices.”
He added that they had made a clarion call to practitioners to take heed of the symptoms of the coronavirus and continue their follow ups on their patients.
“We have not given up, we are trying to engage the government and we hope at the end of the day, someone who is an African leader will listen and respond to our concerns.”
The statement further added that THPs was working with the government to ensure meaningful inclusion of African traditional medicine in the delivery of healthcare services.
“This has been a long struggle, and we do not want anyone to set us back with their tricks. Our focus is to work with the government and other stakeholders to flatten the curve by disrupting the spread of coronavirus.”