Vol. 1 No. 1 (2022)
Integrating *Sangoma* and *Inyanga*: An Ethnography of Therapeutic Pluralism in Eswatini’s Post-Pandemic Healthcare Landscape
Abstract
{ "background": "The COVID-19 pandemic catalysed significant shifts in healthcare utilisation globally, including in Eswatini, where traditional healers (sangoma and inyanga) constitute a foundational healthcare resource. Contemporary policy debates centre on the integration of these plural therapeutic systems, yet ethnographic insights into their post-pandemic operational dynamics remain scarce.", "purpose and objectives": "This study aims to ethnographically document and analyse the evolving practices and interrelations between sangoma (diviner-mediums) and inyanga (herbalists) within the nation's healthcare landscape, examining the mechanisms and challenges of therapeutic pluralism in a post-crisis context.", "methodology": "A 14-month immersive ethnography was conducted in the Hhohho and Manzini regions, employing participant observation, in-depth interviews with 27 traditional healers and 18 biomedical practitioners, and focus group discussions with community health forum members.", "findings": "A key finding is the emergent, structured collaboration where approximately two-thirds of observed inyanga now routinely refer clients to sangoma for spiritual diagnosis before administering herbal treatments. This represents a significant consolidation of historically distinct roles. Furthermore, healers developed formalised symptom-checking protocols aligned with public health messaging, facilitating triage and co-management with clinics.", "conclusion": "The post-pandemic landscape is characterised not by simple coexistence but by active, pragmatic integration at the grassroots level, driven by healers' agency. This has enhanced systemic resilience but operates largely independently of formal policy frameworks.", "recommendations": "National health policy should recognise and support these organic collaborative models through inclusive dialogue platforms. Training programmes for biomedical staff should incorporate modules on the specific logics and referral practices of sangoma and inyanga to foster safer, more effective co-ordination.", "key words": "therapeutic pluralism, traditional healers, health systems integration, ethnography, post-pandemic recovery, Swati medicine", "cont
Read the Full Article
The HTML galley is loaded below for inline reading and better discovery.
How to Cite
Keywords
Research Snapshot
Desktop reading viewReferences
- Ndi, C.L.A.E. (2022). Indigenous Knowledge and Poverty Alleviation in Africa: Experiences from Cameroon. African Perspectives on Poverty, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, and Innovation.
- Fasan, R. (2021). African Studies and Sino-Africa Collaborations: Towards Our “Common Interest”. Journal of African Cultural Studies.
- Kothari, A., & Cruikshank, S.A. (2021). Artificial Intelligence and Journalism: An Agenda for Journalism Research in Africa. African Journalism Studies.
- Allina, E. (2021). Bright lines and fault lines: the politics of refuge in independence-era Mozambique. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines.
- Shaw, D. (2021). COVID-19 and African Postage Stamps. English Studies in Africa.
- Hoeymissen, S.V. (2021). China Studies in Africa. Journal of African Cultural Studies.
- Shaw, J. (2021). Citizenship in Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies.
- Qiu, Y. (2021). Cleavage: Guangzhou, Covid-19 and China–Africa Friendship Politics. Journal of African Cultural Studies.
- Bawa, S. (2021). Culture, Rights, and African Women’s Futures. The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies.
- Lee, C.J. (2021). Decolonizing “China–Africa Relations”: Toward a New Ethos of Afro-Asianism. Journal of African Cultural Studies.
- Tshabangu, T., & Salawu, A. (2021). Indigenous-language Media Research in Africa: Gains, Losses, Towards a New Research Agenda. African Journalism Studies.
- SAKAMOTO, T. (2021). Looking Back on 60 Years of African Studies in Japan:. Journal of African Studies.
- Oyedemi, T.D. (2021). Postcolonial casualties: ‘Born-frees’ and decolonisation in South Africa. Journal of Contemporary African Studies.
- Klaaren, J. (2021). Regulatory Politics in South Africa 25 Years After Apartheid. Journal of Asian and African Studies.
- Simpson, A. (2021). Religion, same-sex desire and masculinity in South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies.
- Mzileni, P. (2021). Studentification in South Africa: Possible Redirections and Political Implications for Local Government. Journal of Southern African Studies.
- de Villiers, R. (2022). Introduction: South African and African Modernism – Beyond a Century, Beyond the Provisional. English Studies in Africa.
- Ubink, J., & Duda, T. (2021). Traditional Authority in South Africa: Reconstruction and Resistance in the Eastern Cape. Journal of Southern African Studies.
- Bauer, N. (2021). Blaming the Other: Migrancy and Populism in Contemporary South Africa. African Studies.
- Vahed, G., & Desai, A. (2021). Inside the cricket change room: undressing whiteness in South Africa. Journal of Contemporary African Studies.