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Zulu Ritual Immunisation in Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Frank Jolles  and
Stephen Jolles
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Abstract

This article arose out of an attempt to quantify the risk of transmitting blood-borne diseases, in particular Hepatitis B and HIV, through the practice of making incisions (umgcabo) and punctures (ukutshobha) in the skin for the purpose of introducing medication (muthi) into the human body. The intention was to examine means of containing the risk. It soon became apparent that the practice of these therapies was inextricably bound up with legal and economic issues arising out of the impact of colonialism on Zulu medicine. Any endeavour to contain them would first have to address these fundamental issues. The article takes a step in that direction by (1) examining in detail some of the practices of diviners and herbalists in their historical context and (2) showing how colonial and post-colonial legislation has affected traditional healers and their clients in rural KwaZulu/Natal.

Résumé

Cet article provient d’une tentative de quantification de risque de transmission des maladies par voie sanguine, en particulier l’hépatite B et le virus HIV, dans le cadre de la pratique qui consiste à faire des incisions (umgcabo) et des ponctions (ukutshobha) intradermiques dans le but d’introduire un médicament (muthi) dans le corps humain. L’intention était d’examiner des moyens de limiter ce risque. Il est vite devenu évident que ce pratiques thérapeutiques étaient inextricablement liées à des problèmes juridiques et économiques de l’impact du colonialisme sur la médecine zouloue. Toute tentative de limiter ces risques doit d’abord aborder ces problèmes fondamentaux. L’article fait un pas dans cette direction en examinant en détail certaines practiques utilisées par les divinateurs et les herborists, dans leur contexte historique, puis en montrant l’incidence de la législation coloniale et postcoloniale sur les guérisseurs traditionnels et leurs clients dans la région rurale du Kwazulu-Natal.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , May 2000 , pp. 229 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2000

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