Cultural Brokers in the Indigenous Knowledge System Preservation of the Vhavenda: a case study in Vhembe, South Africa

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Cultural Brokers in the Indigenous Knowledge System

preservation of the Vhavenda

A case study in Vhembe, South Africa.

Natalia Skowronek – 12774979

Supervisor: Dr. ir. Yves van Leynseele Second reader: Dr. Joshua Maiyo

Local supervisor in Vhembe: Prof. Vhonani Netshandama MSc International Development Studies

Graduate School of Social Sciences August 17th_{2020, Amsterdam} Word count: 23349

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to first of all thank Dr. ir. Yves van Leynseele for his guidance, helpful feedback and enthusiasm all throughout the research. I am very grateful for all the empathy and understanding he showed, especially in the special circumstances which have arisen after the fieldwork. I also want to thank Dr. Joshua Maiyo, for being the second reader of this thesis. Words cannot express my gratitude to Professor Vhonani Netshandama, who was my local supervisor, and so much more than that. She hosted me, guided me with an amazing sensitivity and opened my eyes in many aspects. She made me feel at home in Venda and inspired me for a lifetime.

My sincere appreciation and gratitude go to Mphatheleni Makaulule. I thank her from all my heart for trusting me and sharing with me deep insights into her life and vision. Thanks to her, I have learned to trust the path.

A very special thank you goes to Tsakani Nyoni, my research assistant, translator and friend. I hope we can continue to motivate and support each other in the years to follow.

I want to also thank the University of Venda and especially Dr. Pfarelo Matshidze for warmly welcoming me and making me feel supported and cared for.

I further owe my gratitude to all the other respondent of this study, for generously sharing their time and experience with me.

I want to also thank my ‘best peer team’ Alisha, Marie and Syver, for supporting me during the writing up of this thesis, I am grateful for all the good feedback and funny moments I had thanks to you.

I want express my gratefulness to Penny, for reading through my script and calming me in the worst moments just before the deadline.

Dziękuję również mojej rodzinie za zaufanie do mnie we wszystkich moich decyzjach.

Finally, I could not have done any of this without the encouraging words, warmth and love from Marcus, my very best companion and field work assistant.

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ABSTRACT

In the South African context, colonial history and the former Apartheid framework have shaped and complicated the position of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) throughout time. In the Vhembe District in Limpopo, many Venda people seem to be alienated from their traditional culture, whilst others are using the contemporary political field to redress the injustices of the past. This thesis puts a focus on those who actively fight for the preservation of IKS and advocate for its continued value. As cultural brokers, these people often stand between the indigenous communities they represent and the external authorities that frame their mediating actions. While most research on preserving IKS in Vhembe focuses on specific aspects of indigenous culture, this study adopts an actor-oriented approach and aims at a more dynamic understanding of knowledge preservation.

Data was gathered by means of participant observation and in-depth interviews, focusing on the profiles of the brokers and the communities they represent. Findings show that while traditional cultural institutions of IKS preservation in Vhembe are increasingly facing challenges, cultural brokers create new channels of cultural defence that translate IKS into the dynamic global context in which they are embedded within. By analysing the impact of the brokering actions of two leading figures in the context on IKS preservation in Vhembe, this thesis contributes to the gaining of insights into the contextual framework of IKS preservation as a dynamic process that builds upon the theoretical body of brokerage in contexts of socio-political transformation.

Keywords

South Africa, indigenous knowledge systems, cultural brokers, indigenous knowledge preservation, Vhavenda communities

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1 INTRODUCTION

In the South African context, colonial history as well as the former Apartheid framework have shaped and complicated the position of indigenous knowledge. Post-Apartheid South Africa is currently revisiting its cultural heritage, for which indigeneity is increasingly being recognized and valued as an important aspect in debates on Africa’s socio-economic development (Nabudere 2001). This is helpful in re-centering African indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and creating a political space for the claims of local indigenous communities (Sedibe and Tondi 2005).

The Venda people in the Limpopo province have withstood many such socio-political changes and retained ancient customs in the face of the transformations that were brought upon them (Ross 2017). Nevertheless, in the globalized reality of today, indigenous communities are challenged by the disappearance of cultural and environmental connections that alienates their people from their cultural origins (Maffi and Woodley 2010). In order to defend the knowledge and practices of their community, certain influential actors in Vhembe apply new methods in order to adapt IKS to the dynamic global context within which they are embedded (ibid.). Acting as cultural brokers, these people mediate the demands of their communities to the supra-local and thus stand between the social group they represent and the external authorities that frame their mediating actions (Lindquist 2015; Bierschenk et al. 2002).

As a growing field of study, brokerage as an analytical approach can help in understanding the actively constructed and contested developments in socio-political contexts. In the scope of this case study, cultural brokers are empirically used in order to shed light on the preservation of IKS an evolving process. In an interpretative approach, qualitative data was gathered through participant observation, in-depth interviews with brokers and focus group discussions with Venda people from different social groups. While most scientific studies on IKS preservation in this context reveal a focus on certain of its aspects, this thesis instead uses certain actors as analytical entry point and looks at how new personalities use and shape the broader discourse on the IKS preservation of the Vhavenda communities. In doing so, this thesis also addresses the political issues arising from power clusters of authorities on different levels and allows for a more critical dialogue about the preservation of IKS of the Vhavenda communities. In doing so, this research takes a post-structuralist approach and consequently aims at a more dynamic understanding of knowledge preservation as an ever-evolving discourse (Emeagwali and Dei 2014). Following the intentions of this study, the ensuing main

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research question is being addressed: “How do cultural brokers affect the processes of

preservation of the indigenous knowledge system (IKS) of the Vhavenda?”

To present the findings in a coherent manner, the thesis is structured as follows: After this introduction of the problem statement and relevance of the study, the second chapter situates the research it in its wider theoretical context. Chapter 3 discusses the methodology of the research and offers a reflection on the quality of the fieldwork. Subsequently, a contextual chapter (4) outlines the IKS-relevant historical events in Vhembe, in order to shed light on how the preservation of IKS as a process has been shaped by external influences. The empirical part of this thesis starts with chapter 5, in which different expressions of brokerage are introduced by especially looking at the practices of two current cultural institutions in Vhembe. Following this, chapter 6 offers a close-up look at the who and how of brokering practices in the IKS preservation of the Vhavenda on the example of two influential brokers. The final chapter of this thesis concludes with the answer to the main research question and brings the empirical findings into discussion, before offering recommendations for further research.

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2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

INTRODUCTION

in order to situate the research topic within current debates, in the following, the core concepts used for this study shall be introduced. In a first section (2.1), indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) as a dynamic and adaptable concept shall be defined, with reference to its position within the global development discourse. Following that, their marginalisation through external influences, but also the strategies and policies in order to protect IKS from disappearance will be outlined. Subsequently, a second section (2.2) serves to elaborate on broker theories with a particular focus on the dimensions of cultural brokerage as a dynamic field of study.

2.1 INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS

2.1.1 DEFINITION

Although it is problematical to find a strict definition of ‘indigenous knowledge’, as a diverse concept it can be broadly defined as the collective understanding of the embeddedness of people in their natural environment and “how they organize […] knowledge of flora and fauna, cultural beliefs, and history to enhance their lives” (Semali and Kincheloe 1999, 3). Such knowledge is performed in local customs and traditions and is transferred and reproduced by the society in which it is placed (ibid.). Based on such a definition, Ezeanya-Esiobu (2019) further describes the “development of indigenous knowledge as a by-product of efforts to master the environment […] [as] a matter of survival to the communities” (6) because indigenous knowledge is being produced and re-produced through human actions, it is also adaptive to changing social structures (Emeagwali and Dei 2014). Such a definition reveals an understanding of IKS as a system of meanings that adapts to changing conditions and therefore, does not remain a static entity. Rather, it is in constant movement, depending on the interaction with its natural and socio-cultural environment (Ezeanya-Esiobu 2019). Due to its close interaction with an ever-changing environment, IKS is in constant change and needs to be understood as dynamic construct (Emeagwali and Dei 2014). Accordingly, this study offers a relational perspective on IKS, focussing on the transmission and preservation of indigenous knowledge and culture, rather than to aim at defining it.

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2.1.2 EPISTEMOLOGICAL RUPTURE

The privileged Western body of knowledge enunciates indigenous knowledge as opposed to the seemingly neutral scientific ways of knowing (Mignolo 2009). Following such a narrative, “only the knowledge rooted in Western systems of thought is regarded as valid” (Jones and Mtshali 2013, 181). Western epistemologies are furthermore masked as universal, whereas IKS have repeatedly been delegitimized as primitive, non-scientific or superstitious (Emeagwali and Dei 2014; Ezeanya-Esiobu 2019). Such ‘coloniality of knowledge’ refers to a colonized epistemology of scientific, Western-produced knowledge over all the others, displayed as ‘alternative’ knowledge (Jones and Mtshali 2013). “Schools, churches, and universities, contributed towards the invention of the ‘other’ as they operated as epistemic sites as well as technologies of subjectivation that naturalised Euro-American epistemology as universal” (ibid., 111). These institutions simultaneously produce elites of academic Non-Western scholars that buy into a narrative of such epistemological hierarchy and ultimately dismiss the IKS of their own people as unscientific (ibid.).

Placed into a discourse on development, the international community, states and a part of civil society seem to share a uniform idea of modernity and development and move along these dialectics, internalizing values that are being formulated from a privileged body of knowledge (Grosfoguel 2007). Indigenous knowledge is thereby persistently presented as something that belongs to the past and is opposed to modernity, while IKS is – as much as every other form of knowledge – a hybrid product of various influences and interactions (Agrawal 1995). “Development packages are resisted, embraced, reshaped and accommodated depending on the specific content and context” (Robins 2003, 265). This reveals an understanding of indigenous reality that is opposed to a dichotomy of traditional indigenous knowledge versus modern thinking, but rather a hybrid form described as indigenous ‘modernity’ (ibid.). By a growing number of African scholars, IKS is seen as a tool to create a body of knowledge that is contextual and suited to their own perception of their environment (Jones and Mtshali 2013) and to decolonize the power relations in the issues of the African modernity (Dastile and Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013). Such perspective allows for an understanding of the construction of a new cultural identity that can embrace two paradoxical ideas of development – one that is modern and Western-influenced and one that is directed towards a (pre-colonized) past of traditional values and culture (Arce and Long 2000). Such patterned development flows get appropriated in the local context, taking elements from the Western modernization and resulting in ‘multiple modernities’ (ibid.).

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2.1.3 CHALLENGES OF INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

Indigenous communities are amongst the most marginalised social groups in modern history (Gilbert and Sena 2018). In the globalized reality of today, industrial expansion and mineral extraction persistently destroy the environment and indigenous lands and form a prevailing threat to IKS for indigenous populations worldwide (Conde and Le Billon; Simpson 2004). The increasing extraction of fossil fuels alongside an expanding use of land for mono-agriculture have been leading to the destruction of more and more natural sites, including those inhabited by indigenous communities (Conde and Le Billon 2017). Due to the fact that IKS is strongly bound to the direct environment of its communities, the land dispossession under the umbrella of colonization and globalization is particularly devastating for indigenous populations and their efforts to maintain their culture and knowledge (Wiessner 2011; Simpson 2004). Hence, although the struggles of indigenous people worldwide come with various context-specific challenges, in their aspirations, most indigenous communities share a demand for the protection of ancestral land (Nebarume 2014).

Besides issues concerning the disappearing of territories, another rupture in the preservation of IKS came upon indigenous communities with the devaluation of their education and culture. With the arrival of Christian missionaries in the African context, a new set of societal norms and values was introduced in colonized contexts. A Christianisation of society was, for one thing, accompanied by a plea for religious monotheism that denies, demoralizes and illegalizes indigenous forms of spirituality (Ezeanya-Esiobu 2019). Furthermore, the Christian mission introduced of a new education system that resulted in an assimilation of young generations to a system that favours Western knowledge and didactics. As a formal education is not only based on topics defined by Western societies, but also didactically focuses on learning from books, it stands in a contrast to how IKS is constructed and transmitted orally and through practice. Those children that attend formal educative institutions simply lack the time to learn indigenous ways through listening and practice, which distances them from the aboriginal way of learning and understanding their culture knowledge by participating, practicing and orally absorbing it and makes it hard to maintain IKS by using in the traditional ways of transmission (Simpson 2004).

Another factor catalysing such predicament is the ongoing urbanization of rural settings. Various scholars describe how indigenous communities move from rural to urban areas due

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to high unemployment rates, in an effort to raise their economic situation (Abu-Saad 2008; Maffi and Woodley 2010; Semali 1999). For some others, governmental policies and national development programmes aimed at an urbanisation of certain areas lead to a migratory movement into townships and cities (Abu-Saad 2008). “Generally, urbanization of indigenous people worldwide has followed Western models that have not been culturally appropriate.” (ibid., 1714). Due to this, a more and more congruent mass of urban citizens slowly evolves, making culturally distinctive unities disappear, thereby endangering the global ‘cultural diversity’ (Nebarume 2014). Hence, even though each society contains its specific cultural knowledge system, “cultures are no longer seen as self-contained social organisms but as interrelated networks of localities” (Semali and Kincheloe 1999, 23).

Moreover, due to the ongoing enunciation of IKS as un-modern and therefore not fitting into the idea of a desired future context attributed as ‘urban’, ‘progressive’ or (economically) ‘expanding’, the indigenous communities are presented with a dominant culture that they feel they need to assimilate to, thereby giving up “their ways of life, their culture, their language, etc., or, in one word, their identity.” (Nebarume 2014, 49).

Ultimately, the country-specific socio-political frameworks influence the reality of indigenous communities within each context differently. Many governments are influenced by a neoliberal development narrative of economic growth, which results in a socio-political setting where state authorities encourage and allow large transnational companies the use of territories inhabited by indigenous communities. In order to provide more contextual insights, section 2.1.5 of this chapter will introduce the national debate on IKS in South Africa.

2.1.4 STRATEGIES OF PRESERVATION

As addressed in the section above, indigenous people have suffered from many confrontations about their culture, causing complications in the preservation of their IKS. Yet, despite all these threats, some were able to maintain their culture and lands, as they adapted new strategies for preserving IKS in response to the external influences that affected them (Abu-Saad 2008; Berger 2019). This has proven IKS to be a dynamic concept that develops in order to guarantee its continuity, thereby overcoming ever-new challenges.

In order to understand how indigenous claims adapted to changing environments throughout time (ibid.), hereinafter a global perspective on IKS preservation methods shall be given, by first discussing strategies of transmission in a pre-colonial reality. Subsequently, some of the

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prominent current strategies that indigenous communities developed to defend their land and culture due to external influences, shall be presented.

In every indigenous community, certain local cultural institutions are appointed with and responsible for the preservation of IKS. Research has indicated that a shared characteristic of IKS preservation is its oral transmission from one generation to the next. By physically being present in the homestead and helping older community members in their work, the children and youth learn by doing and observing (Jones and Mtshali 2013; Semali 1999).

Another shared element of indigenous knowledge is that it’s often expressed through taboos and linked to social norms which assist in regulating the life of the village community as a whole, in order to secure its survival (Constant and Tshisikhawe 2018). As a system of meanings, it belongs to the whole community and is lived by and expressed through its organic wholeness (Lewis 2012). Moreover, in African indigenous societies, the concept of Ubuntu plays a significant role in the daily interactions of a Venda village community. Opposed to the common Western understanding of personhood through rationality in its essence, Ubuntu stands for the interdependence of every being with its surrounding (Tshivhase 2018).

The external threats experienced by indigenous communities urged them to develop new methods for IKS preservation that extend a traditional transmission. As their claims are often situated around the fight over resources and territory, as an increase of their advocacy on land rights helps to protect their culture, too. Some indigenous communities work together with national and international organisations, using the court as platform to raise public awareness on their issues. This is especially problematic in contexts where a discrepancy between a state intervention aiming at development of economic growth and the indigenous claim to leave their territory untouched by mono-agricultural or resource extracting industries clash (Clay 2016; Conde and Le Billon 2017). Where a collaboration between the local communities and supra-local actors is not possible, political protests are another strategy implied to articulate their struggles for territorial autonomy. Literature reveals that this is especially implied by indigenous communities in Latin America, where the fight against ‘extractivism’ is particularly prevalent (Conde and Le Billon 2017). The actions of indigenous communities in defence of their territory and culture let them connect globally to other indigenous groups and can therefore be classified as social movements (Conde and Le Billon 2017; Smith 1999). The social networks indigenous communities create when bringing their demands to the international platform are a source of support that strengthen their voice, not only internationally but also on the local sphere.

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While indigenous groups have to assimilate and adapt to normative global political discourses and mainstream development ideas imposed by their state authorities, there is also an inverse stream of influence (Abu-Saad 2008). In the following, I shall briefly outline some of the key elements of the formalized legal frameworks in terms of IKS. These reflect on the progress of indigenous people in shaping the global policy framework, which in return also influences the national legal system according to the needs and demands of the indigenous communities.

2.1.5 POLITICAL ADAPTATION

IKS IN THE GLOBAL LEGAL SYSTEM

Recently, indigenous knowledge has been increasingly receiving attention from researchers and scientists, national governments, policy makers and NGOs who try document and protect it from exploitation (Agrawal 1999; Maffi and Woodley; Mawere 2015). Due to its richness in aspects and equivocality of meanings, IKS is legally addressed from various angles. Hence, depending on the context, differential initiatives formed through distinctive perspectives shape the discourse on IKS. Before discussing IKS in the South African policy context, a brief introduction into some of the legislations and conceptualisations that were pivotal in building and strengthening the power of indigenous people worldwide, shall be given.

In 2007, the United Nations declared the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and thereby created an international instrument for and expansion and strengthening of the agency of indigenous communities (Wiessner 2011). The international policy inter alia prohibits the relocation of indigenous groups and allows them to practice, develop and pass on their IKS including spiritual practices, pressuring states to take steps to safeguard these rights. While it constitutes a cornerstone in the legal embedding of indigenous people’s demands, the UNDRIP nonetheless qualifies as a recommendation rather than a legally binding international law (ibid.).

The development of a legal instrument for the preservation of indigenous knowledge and resources is further addressed by the concept of ‘intellectual property rights’ (Emeagwali and Dei 2014; Escobar 1998; Ezeanya-Esiobu 2019). Because indigenous experts on medicinal plants have experienced a long history of knowledge extraction for the commercial use of their knowledge, this constitutes a particularly important aspect within the global debate on IKS linked to (cultural and natural) biodiversity debates (Silitoe 2015). In the light of almost insurmountable power dynamics, they were not able to safeguard their rights and became victims of exploitation by large pharmaceutical industries (Emeagwali and Dei 2014; Shonhai 2016).

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The expansion of the legal framework for indigenous rights came with the reformulation of certain concepts such as ‘property’ and ‘cultural heritage’ and the adaptation of human rights frameworks according to the claims formulated by indigenous groups (Wiessner 2011). This is reflected in global efforts to expand and secure indigenous rights, such as the advocacy of the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to protect the world’s ‘cultural heritage’, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) that recommends to collect indigenous knowledge resources and the Convention on Biological Diversity as instrument to address the destruction of indigenous plants and its exploitative commercialisation (Roy 2015). Moreover, the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 puts an emphasis on biodiversity conservation within development processes and addresses landscape governance from a global perspective (Reed et al. 2016), which also affects indigenous people’s territories and hence their IKS. While this section provided an introduction into some of the current global debates on IKS, the following subsection creates an outline of the most relevant political and legal instruments that influence the IKS preservation in contemporary South Africa.

IKS IN THE NATIONAL POLICY CONTEXT

Due to South Africa’s specific history, its indigenous population went through centuries of oppression caused during the colonial era as well as the Apartheid (Sedibe and Tondi 2005). Many policies introduced during the political transformation of post-1994 South Africa are part of the national redress to previous injustices suffered by the local, non-white population, for which they can be understood as bureaucratic instruments for IKS preservation.

The agency of South African indigenous communities post-1994 needs to be assessed in consideration of the concept of the African Renaissance, developed after the Apartheid and in answer to the long and persisting history of a marginalization (ibid.). In its aim to preserve and recognize an African way of living and thinking, the African Renaissance voices a concern over the effect of a modernization in Africa that puts individuals in the focus and distances itself from perceptions of community as central in people's lives. This fear leads to a stronger emphasis on African cultures and indigenous knowledge that constitutes them (Connell 2007). The IKS dialogue in South Africa is thereby rooted in a narrative of ‘positive African identity’, which indicates the cultural values of IKS (NRF 2019).

As a result, indigenous resistance in the South African context characterises also a certain collaboration with the state, though this is reserved to the specific group of traditional leaders

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that have been able to preserve and are still adhering to their powerful roles in the contemporary political context (Ntsebeza 2005; Oomen 2005). The introduction of democracy came as a pledge to end the segregation of voices according to racial power structures and a promise of the beginning of a more participatory policy-making. The thereof resulting inclusion of indigenous communities into the processes of land relocation can be seen as aspects within a decolonial narrative. Nonetheless, from the perspective of the indigenous populations that live “under chiefly jurisdiction” (Oomen 2005, 78), the land allocation processes left the power in the hand of the same holders than during the Apartheid (Ntsebeza 2005, Oomen 2005). The political structures of Apartheid including the chiefs prevail until this day, the contemporary policies continue to create unequal opportunities, for which they are not equally reachable for the village communities in rural areas.

South Africa’s post-Apartheid specifics are evident in complicated land rights claims as well as in tense relationships “between traditional and democratic structures and leaders” (Farrell et al. 2012, 196). Land access has been managed and distributed by the local leadership structures already in the times before colonialism and these privileges were able to be maintained by the chiefs also during the Apartheid era as well. Hence, in the democracy building process, the strategically installed chiefs have not disappeared, but still prevail in a complicated and unstable manner. Scholars engaged with these issues refer to how the traditional leadership structures have been disrupted, influenced, corrupted and revised through the impact of colonial forces and the apartheid government (Ntsebeza 2005; Oomen 2005). Due to the issues revolving around land ownership, the ‘Restitution of Land Rights Act 22’ of 1994 has been introduced as one of the first key post-Apartheid instruments for the relocation of land to those who had been deprived of it, as a legal instrument that can be used by a collective entity (Huizenga 2018; Nebarume 2014).

The discourse on indigenous agency is further complicated with the indeterminate position of traditional leaders in rural areas of the country. While the chiefs traditionally act as the custodians of culture (4.2), it is also in their political interest to promote IKS in regards to their land rights. The recognition of traditional authorities as part of the formal government became explicit in the ‘Communal Land Rights Act’ of 2004. While this legal instrument was introduced in the scope of reducing the complexity within land allocation issues, it resulted in a non-democratic privilege of traditional authorities to govern over land of indigenous communities, thereby consolidating the structural power of traditional leaders over the indigenous communities as a collective (Cousins 2007; Ntsebeza 2005). By referring back to the local

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leadership structures, the chiefs therefore attempt to secure their influence on the local land administration (Ntsebeza 2005; Oomen 2005). Especially in rural areas with high levels of unemployment and infrastructural issues, local governance structures such as indigenous leaders are vulnerable to corruption and keen to buy into a capitalistic development narrative that ultimately, results in large land divestments to multinational companies in the agricultural or mining sector (Conde and Le Billon 2017; Coombes et al. 2012).

From the beginning of the post-1994 socio-political changes in South Africa, the government Department of Science and Technology (DST) distinguished itself as the main institution to promote IKS and strengthen its position within the socioeconomic development of the country. The inclusion of IKS into this specific department illuminates its regard for its development potential of the country especially (Shonhai 2016). In its Ten-Year Innovation Plan introduced in 2009, the DST aims at the development of South Africa into a knowledge-based economy that encourages economic growth, thereby revealing a discourse strongly influenced by neoliberal global narratives. Consequently, the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy declared by the DST within this document understands IKS primarily as a tool to solve issues of poverty and an economic development (ibid.). Hence, it is orientated towards a development that is generating market value from indigenous knowledge and practices, rather than focusing on its intrinsic value. For instance, IKS is broadly discussed in a biotechnological context, where the pharmaceutical potential of indigenous plants is seen as a future investment (ibid.).

Whilst the DST acts as the main governmental body in the support of IKS, the National Research Foundation (NRF) financially supports projects that involve IKS and are concerned with the promotion of more participatory, de-colonised research methods that acknowledge indigenous knowledge holders (NRF 2019). In doing so, the NRF acts as the national funding instrument for IKS-related research. In its framework document, the NRF puts a particular focus on three notions. First, indigenous community members need to be acknowledged as contributors to the scientific knowledge gained through IKS research, instead of being treated as sheer informants. Second, the potential of IKS to contribute to a sustainable economic development needs to be expanded and used. Third, besides the promotion of IKS development, the research projects funded by the NRF should have human capital development component in supporting students (ibid.).

Moreover, policies revealing efforts for IKS preservations are apparent in the education sector, where the integration of IKS into the curriculum is aimed at by the department of Education

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(NRF 2019). This is expressed in the ‘Curriculum National Science policy document’ published in 2005, where IKS is broadly defined as a “set of knowledge, […] woven into the history and place of people” (ibid., 8). However, the possible tensions resulting from the integration of a knowledge that is epistemologically so different from the formal education that prevails in South African institutes of education has not been adequately addressed, following Onwu and Mosimege (2013).

As a strategy to preserve indigenous knowledge, the South African government, together with the national academic institutions promote the documentation or registration of IKS (DST 2019; NRF 2019). Yet, some scholars argue that a translation of IKS into a written form substantially changes them and destroys their dynamic nature (Nussbaum 2003; Simpson 2004).

A significant step in the current development regarding the national IKS legislation is the launching of the ‘Act No. 6 of 2019’ for the Protection and Promotion of indigenous knowledge. In the formation process of the Act (initially formulated as a Bill), various non-political stakeholders such as academics, community members and traditional leaders were included, suggesting a participatory approach of the current politics. In its statement, this legal instrument aims for a preservation of IKS where all the involved stakeholders – especially the knowledge holders in the villages – benefit from intellectual property rights (DST 2019). The most important authority in the implementation and evaluation of the Act is the National Indigenous Knowledge System Office (NIKSO) (ibid.). It is established within the governmental department, where the Minister of the DST of the Cabinet of South Africa choses who occupies the management of the NIKSO as well as all the other employees of the team (DST 2019). The taking over of the formal state entities in the registration and control of the indigenous rights and IKS preservation methods bears a certain risk, as it opens the avenue and encourage the commodification of IKS and traditional culture. Even though the important issue of an exploitation of aspects of indigenous knowledge is being addressed in the policy as well as the ‘Act No. 6 of 2019’, all the power over the hereto related decisions thus lies in the hands of state bureaucrats.

While a closer perspective onto the lived reality in the rural context of the Venda people will be given in the contextual chapter (4) of this thesis, hereinafter a definition and discussion of cultural brokers shall be given, offering a perspective on why these personalities can be a useful analytical category for the examination of the discourse on IKS preservation in Vhembe.

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2.2 CULTURAL BROKERS

2.2.1 THE BROKER FIGURE

In settings marked by societal change, flows of collective socio-cultural goods in the interest of the locals can be mediated and bridged by actors that stand between socio-political structures. As broader processes and structures are interdependent with the microlevel everyday life reality of local communities, the divergence of ideologies visible in processes led by the government or the market can fail to address the needs of the people on the ground, generating a political void. In such settings, brokers can stabilize the development discourse by navigating in both spheres and using their networks as a platform to mediate and transform the inequality within certain resource flows (James 2011; Koster and van Leynseele 2018). Hence, in the face of neo-liberal societal transformations and governance transitions, brokers in areas of limited statehood use the void that exists between spheres of different power relations to negotiate resources like knowledge or culture (Bierschenk et al. 2002; de Jong 2020; Lindquist 2015). As certain groups of people rely on intermediaries to link their demands for resources to the power-holders of these, the work of the broker is to connect and maintain personal ties among and across actors on different power levels (James 2011; Koster an Van Leynseele 2018).

Depending on the context, the spaces the brokers work within can be either ‘negotiated’ or ‘state-invited’ (Koster and Van Leynseele 2018). A broker that uses a state-invited space makes use of the access to an institutionally pre-given framework and mediates from within it. This space is often held by a powerful authority (e.g. the government, international donors, non-profit organisations) that invites new actors to use certain previously exclusive powers (Bierschenk et al 2002). A negotiated space on the other hand is being employed by brokers that advocate for a bigger agency and widening of the structural possibilities given and therefore create new spaces and meanings in resource transfer (Koster and Van Leynseele 2018). As brokers translate ideas “from the global arena down and from local arenas up” (Merry 2006, 3), such characters play an active role in the embedding of local communities in a changing wider society and allow analytical assess to the production and maintenance of local practices in interaction with external influences (James 2011; Koster and Van Leynseele 2018).

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While the broker as a socio-political figure varies from context to context, some shared personal characteristics of brokers across disciplines and regions have been established. These include the ability to speak with the accurate rhetoric to communicate with people in both spheres the broker is connecting, a certain level of coordinative and organisational skills, the competence to make performed actions visible (and therefore legitimate) and finally, the capacity to maintain good interpersonal relations in both spheres at the same time (Bierschenk et al. 2002; de Jong 2020).

On a more contextual level, when comparing various studies on brokers and the context they are acting within, the following common attributes were determined (Koster and van Leynseele 2018); First, they are situated in contexts of socio-political transformation, where they act between governance levels and mobilise and co-steer resource flows. Second, they connect different meanings, in settings of divergent ideologies in politics and economic systems. Third, they all reveal a certain level of independence in their decisions and actions, which are guided by their personal opinions and values. While they can move between various levels within an interdependent network, they do not belong to either group completely, but rather share some elements of membership in different spheres (ibid.). The thereof resulting double membership of brokers is expressed through the recognition or status of the brokers in the eyes of the authority-holding sphere outside of their community or, ideally, their simultaneous inclusion in both spheres (Bierschenk et al. 2002).

As they operate on interfaces of different world views and knowledge systems, cultural brokers are involved in stabilising processes between conflicting interests. This requires from them to not merely have the capacity to negotiate between, but also align divergent political rationales, even in contexts where complex and contradictory ideologies clash against each other (Koster and van Leynseele 2018). There is a performative element in such alignment, resulting from the translation that the brokers implement when negotiating between the relevant spheres (de Jong 2020; Hönke and Müller 2018; Lewis and Mosse 2006). Due to the element of translation in their representations, the brokers therefore, do not only respond to, but are also productive of the mediating systems they are acting within (James 2011; Lewis and Mosse 2006). Through their bridging act, they not only transform and give meaning to the resources that they are mediating (Bierschenk et al. 2002) but beyond that also co-create, sustain and actualize the reality they are embedded and moving within (James 2011).

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The political field on which the IKS discourse in South Africa is based that is addressed in the scope of this thesis constitutes such a dynamic set of relationships, discourses and practices that evolve with and by the brokering actions (Koster and Van Leynseele 2018).

2.2.2 THE BROKER AS ANALYTICAL TOOL

The broker as an academic entity has experienced a change in the rhetoric throughout time. In the 1950s and 60s, various studies portray the broker as a political figure that negotiates between the different layers of governance in a given context (de Jong 2020). In these, the role and position of the broker is portrayed as standing and mediating between relatively separated spheres of a local community and its authorities (Koster and van Leynseele 2018). The initially mainly anthropological interest in the broker figure was based on its capacity to shed light on how international and national decisions were being received and developed on a local level (Bierschenk et al. 2002). However, research lost interest in the broker figure in the decades that followed, as a focus was put on authority structures that imposed themselves on populations, rather than taking individual actors into account on narratives of counter-governmentality. Due to a perception of governance as multi-layered, decentralized and involving various actors, the broker is currently regaining relevance. Whilst before he was seen as a figure that stands between powerful institutions and the community-based level, nowadays, their arena of mediation is less obvious (Koster and van Leynseele 2018). Hence, research today recognizes that the levels between where the broker is acting are multi-scalar and more complex, making them a good entry point “to capture the complex financial, social, political and cultural exchanges that are characteristic of a transnational and globally interconnected world” (de Jong 2020, para 14).

In development studies, the broker has been used in order to discuss issues of land allocation (James 2011), for reassembling processes in the context of migration (Lindquist 2018) or in the context of informal markets where brokers manage the flow of resources between divergent social and political groups (de Jong 2020). Hence, to study them and their actions can be a valuable starting point to reveal coherence in otherwise highly fragmented and messy contexts of state authorities, NGO workers, community networks and local leadership structures (Koster and van Leynseele 2018).

In this thesis, the figure of the broker is being used as an analytical entry point to discuss the IKS field in South Africa as a complex arena of formal and informal stakeholders involved in knowledge and culture preservation. In the scope of this study, representative brokers shall

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be specifically considered in the context of this study. These are brokers that “are embedded in inclusive societal institutions of those they represent” (Hönke und Müller 2018, p. 14) and therefore share a common purpose with them. As representatives, they strategically negotiate representations and transmit valued resources in the interest of one group, to which they also belong (Bierschenk et al. 2002). Furthermore, brokers shall not only be restricted to be impersonated by a community leader or social movement activist, but are, in the context of this research, also understood as a collective, non-human actors (Merry 2006).

2.3 CONCEPTUAL SCHEME

As elaborated in the theoretical framework, this thesis is based upon the two main theoretical concepts of indigenous knowledge systems and cultural brokers.

Figure 1: conceptual scheme before the field

While Figure 1 shows the conceptual scheme as it was before I left for the field, Figure 2 shows how the scheme evolved into a field of several, interconnected spheres, rather than two separate ones. Based on the theoretical framework, the new conceptual scheme uses circular, interconnected spaces and reveals an understanding of IKS and its influences coming from its global, national and local embedding as dynamic and fluid concepts within a changing, social, cultural and political reality.

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Figure 2: conceptual scheme after the field

The outermost circle symbolizes the global sphere and represents the global development and debates that have an effect on IKS and the lived reality of the Venda people. The national policy sphere is presented as a second-outer circle. The inmost, red shape represents the community/local sphere of the Vhavenda and consists of several circles in order to portrayal the different aspects of IKS that together create one joint dynamic set of meanings, placed in a field of interaction influenced by external forces. The IKS circles are intentionally designed

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in various sizes, in order to represent the differences in relevance of certain IKS aspects in the current context and for different society members of the Vhavenda.

The blue arrows represent an influence of one sphere to the other. As both the policies created on a global authority level and the instruments for IKS preservation created by the South Africa state do not reach all stakeholders in indigenous communities equally, the blue arrows consequently do not ‘enter’ every space within the local sphere of indigenous communities and their IKS. The orange arrows show the mediating actions of the cultural brokers in this field, revealing their ability to act across the spheres and influence the local context/IKS, as well as their potential influence in both spheres. The broken line that rises from the IKS sphere and extends it demonstrates how the processes of IKS negotiation through the cultural brokers result in its widening.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

IKS is a dynamic concept that is in constant interaction with its environment, including opportunities provided by governments, global policies and developments and socio-political transformations. On a local basis, IKS preservation is a strategic field of defence, in which indigenous communities respond to the structural development around them and struggle for the preservation of their lands, ancient customs and appreciation of their epistemologies in comparison with a western-oriented, scientific knowledge production. In South Africa, the revival of indigenous knowledge and culture creates opportunities for indigenous communities to formulate their demands on a national policy sphere. However, the contemporary IKS policies favour some stakeholders over others, for which IKS preservation in South Africa a highly political and unequal field of interaction. In such spaces, cultural brokers can emerge as representatives of demands expressed by the powerless, translating resources between various stakeholders. Due to the complexity and contextuality of IKS preservation, an actor-oriented approach that studies the brokering strategies of these actors can shed light on certain context-specific adaptation of indigenous resistance.

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3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 RESEARCH QUESTION AND SUB-QUESTIONS

The main objective of this study is to examine the role of the cultural brokers in the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) of the Vhavenda community. In order to do so, the following main research question has been addressed during this research: “How do Cultural Brokers affect processes of the preservation of the Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) of the Vhavenda?”

The following outlined sub-questions serve as a basis for answering the main research question:

1) What are the cultural institutions traditionally involved in the preservation of IKS of the Vhavenda?

2) What issues resolve around the preservation of IKS of the Vhavenda in the current context?

3) Who are the cultural brokers in the Vhavenda communities in terms of IKS preservation?

4) What strategies are used by the cultural brokers in order to preserve and represent the IKS of the Vhavenda?

5) In what way are the methods of the cultural brokers constituting a modernization of the indigenous knowledge preservation?

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3.2 RESEARCH SETTING

The research took place in Vhembe, one of five districts of the Limpopo Province in of South Africa. Flanked by the Kruger National park and Mozambique in the East and North East and Zimbabwe in the North, Vhembe is the most Northern region of South Africa (Ross 2017). Formerly known as the Bantustan “Venda” (Figure 1), Vhembe is widely inhabited by Venda people, who account for the majority of the population in this region (Constant and Tshisikhawe 2018).

Figure 3: Bantustans in South Africa during the Apartheid

The Vhembe District is traversed by forested mountains with a lush vegetation including various lakes and rivers. It is known for a rich biological diversity and comprises many culturally protected (sacred) natural sites. The mostly rural region could preserve much of its cultural heritage, for which Vhembe is seen as a highly cultural setting where village families still adhere to traditional living conditions where they grow their own crops for household consumption. Transkei Bophuthatswana Venda Ciskei Gazankulu KaNgwane KwaNdebele KwaZulu Lebowa QwaQwa Natal Cape Orange Free State Transvaal Namibia Botswana Zimbabwe Mozambique Lesotho Swaziland

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Picture 1: On the way to the sacred site Fundudzi Picture 2: View from a hill top in Thohoyandou The mountainous area is known to have rich soil, but relatively scarce water resources and about two thirds of all households in Vhembe practice agriculture (Aliber and Cousins 2013). Nevertheless, the whole area is marked by a rapid urbanization that can be especially felt in the former capital of Venda ‘Thohoyandou’. Currently, 87% of the Vhembe population lives in less than 10% of the land which can be explained by the local migration from rural to urban settings as well as the forced migration of millions of people in the 1960s (Munyati and Kabanda 2010). The partial overpopulation together with a mass deforestation and the promotion of mono-agriculture has many negative impacts on the ecological system of the region, for instance by disturbing and reshaping rainfall patterns, leading to an increased frequency of droughts (Ross 2017). This also puts the use of land for indigenous life-style increasingly at risk, as indigenous practices and knowledge are interlinked with their immediate, natural environment (2.1).

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3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN

The objective of this study is to explore the particular case of IKS preservation of the Vhavenda, for which this research qualifies as a case study (Bryman 2008). Multiple rationalities were included in the data, in accordance with the researcher’s constructivist ontological position and interpretivist epistemology (ibid.). During the formation process of the thesis, first ontological and epistemological assumptions were drawn based on secondary data. However, once arrived in the field, it was the aim to develop a new understanding based on the real experiences, views and opinions of the local population. In this process, the interview questions were built based on the key issues that arose from the formal and informal conversations held in the first three weeks of the fieldwork.

3.4 DATA COLLECTION

Following an exploratory approach towards the respondents and the field, the empirical data required for this research was collected by the qualitative methods of participant observation, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews.

3.4.1 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

Due to an exploratory approach of the researcher, a particular emphasis was put on participant observation as a research method (ibid.). Especially in the first few weeks of the field work, the aim was to observe the surrounding and have many informal talks. This helped in understanding the daily practices and specifically also the different perceptions on indigenous knowledge and its preservation in the eyes of the local population. A field journal was used to write down observations, situational analyses and further thoughts. At the end of each day, the field notes were written out into a MS-Word document. While during the first weeks, the aim was to take as extensive notes as possible, in the later stages of the fieldwork the note writing and observation became more selective and focused on the concepts arising from the data (Goffmann 2002). Apart from that, using participation observation as a research method was revealing due to the local embeddedness and oral transmission of indigenous knowledge (Semali and Kincheloe 1999) and allowed for a more holistic understanding of the processes around its preservation (Merriam 1998). Once it was decided that two central cultural brokers in Vhembe will be in the focus of this study, I was eager to spend as much time as possible

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with either Mphatheleni Makaulule or Professor Netshandama and their teams and involved myself into their projects whenever it was possible.

3.4.2 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

Two focus group discussions (FGD) helped were conducted in the field, in order to explore if the concepts found in theory were essential in the context of the field site, and further served the triangulation of the collected data (Bryman 2008). The questions for the FGD were formulated in the first week based on preliminary secondary data collection and first observations. A record written during the FGD helped with determining the key points of the discussion. Shortly after the group meeting, a summary of key points and specific observations (group dynamic, general atmosphere, main conflicts, strong opinions, collective agreement on certain topics) was drawn up. The FGD were held small groups of 3-4 respondents, whereby one was held with University of Venda (UV) students and another one with the village inhabitants of Mashovhela. This qualitative method facilitated in elaborating concepts for further research and grasping some group dynamics, societal norms and socio-political structures between Venda people from different social groups.

3.4.3 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

A central source for data collection were sixteen 1.5 – 4 hours long, in-depth interviews held with Venda people that, through their engagement in IKS preservation on a local and supra-local level, fitted into the concept of a cultural broker according to my perception. The semi-structured interview form ensured that relevant were discussed, although flexibility for further discussions and new directions according to what the respondents considered relevant were retained (Bryman 2008). The conversations during the interviews were recorded and later transcribed into an MS-Word document. Immediately after each interview and the focus group discussions, an interview reflection consisting of a description of the general atmosphere, the interview setting, as well as observation regarding any particularity experienced during the interview was written into a separate field notebook. I met for four of the respondents for a second, official follow-up interview, but I met all the respondents (with the exception of one) several times and had informal conversations on various occasions.

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3.4.5 SAMPLING

Overall, the sampling strategy applied in this research was purposive sampling followed by snowballing (ibid.). Mphatheleni Makaulule, due to her role within the Vhavenda community, was already intended as one of the key respondents before I left for the field. Furthermore, she was the person that I relied on as a facilitator for getting in touch with other respondents, as the members of her organisation Dzomo La Mupo (DLM) were intended as the main respondents for this research. However, she was not available in the first few weeks of the fieldwork, and could only support me after I was a few weeks into my fieldwork. This situation also meant that instead of residing in a deeply rural area in Vhembe, I stayed at the house of Professor Netshandama in the town of Thohoyandou. Once I was confronted with the realities of the fieldwork, some adaptation was required, especially in the need to involve a different sample of key respondents into my data collection.

On a positive note, this allowed me to be closer to the UV and be in a daily contact with my local supervisor, who became a key respondent to this study and largely facilitated the snowballing for other respondents. In addition, I was able to broaden my spectrum on cultural brokers in Vhembe and get in contact with a Christian church, a local radio station, two art galleries and a musical association as contemporary cultural institutions of IKS. However, because the concept of a cultural broker was rather new to all the local people I met, my respondents revealed not to be an easy target group. Therefore, I was required to explain the role of cultural brokers in an extensive way and to meet plenty of potential candidates several times, before I was able to understand whether these people would be suitable as respondents.

Throughout the fieldwork, 50 formal and informal interviews were conducted with potential respondents, which were chosen based on their engagement with IKS preservation. Out of all these interlocutors, 16 people were regarded as fitting into the definition of a ‘cultural broker’. These are of 5 DLM members, 7 people involved in the UV (5 lecturers and 2 students), two artists (a musical performer and a painter/sculpture), a Christian pastor and a school inspector. Finally, two key respondents were chosen out of this sample, as they are the leaders of two cultural institutions active in the current processes of IKS preservation.

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3.5 UNITS OF ANALYSIS AND OBSERVATION

The unit of analysis within this study are the Vhavenda communities of the Vhembe District in South Africa. The unit of observation in this research are those people within these communities that can be considered as cultural brokers in terms of IKS preservation.

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS

Due to the interpretative and constructivist nature of this research, an inductive approach was adapted in the data analysis (ibid.). The recordings from the focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were to some extent transcribed already during the time in the field. When the interviews and discussions were held in Tshivenda, a translator first transcribed and translated them. The revision of the field notes together with a first outline of major concepts gained from the transcripts was used for identifying key topics in the first half of the field work. After the first interviews were transcribed, the text was first fragmented and labelled into specific sub-themes in a process of open coding (Boeije 2009). Upon return from the field, a more in-depth data analysis of the semi-structured interviews as well as the focus group discussions was done by using the qualitative data management software ATLAS.ti.

3.8 REFLECTION ON THE QUALITY AND LIMITATIONS

This methodological reflection aims to provide insights into the quality of my data. Due to the qualitative nature of the research, an assessment of the data quality shall be based on the two concepts “trustworthiness” and “authenticity”, as described by Bryman (2012).

3.8.1 TRUSTWORTHINESS

Following my ontological position of a constructivist, my portrayal of social reality in Vhembe is substantially based on the opinions of my respondents (Chilisa 2017). In an effort to make this study more than just a knowledge extraction, I was eager to actively engage with the local people, which I believe helped me in getting a better insight into their lives and culture (ibid.). Aiming at a de-colonization of my research methods, I was further keen to conduct this research according to the local customs. This for instance meant that I needed to pass through the local leadership system in order to ask permission to perform interviews within a certain community. In accordance to the Venda culture, meeting a person once only would not allow for an honest and deep conversation, let alone permit me to lead the discussion. Especially

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with elder participants, this meant meeting them on several occasions, before I could conduct a semi-structured interview.

In order to reflect on the trustworthiness of my research in terms of internal validity, preliminary findings were discussed with my supervisor in the Netherlands, Dr. Yves van Leynseele, who has been academically involved in the region for the past few years. Furthermore, my local supervisor, Professor Vhonani Netshandama, was always available to discuss and reflect on my observations and preliminary conclusions.

Credibility was further targeted by targeting “respondent validation”. (Bryman 2008, 391) Hence, I sent the transcript of every interview back to the respondents, inviting them to comment on it. Especially before meeting them for a follow-up interview, I would make sure the respondents would get the transcripts of our previous interview in each case before our next one. This gave them time to reflect and expand on what they had shared with me before.

3.8.2 AUTHENTICITY

Authenticity concentrates on my presence as a researcher in the field as well as on any possible positive impact of the research as a whole (ibid., 393). A workshop held in the beginning of my time in the field enabled me to present my research proposal and get insights into the local perspective on my methods, approach and intentions. Ontological authenticity (ibid.) was further aimed at by creating moments of knowledge exchange through an open discussion of my research observations with the local people.

The key respondents of this research, as well as some university scholars, affirmed that my research activity on cultural brokers in IKS preservation provided them with new insights into this field of research. All throughout the process of this research, I tried to engage in a way that doesn’t serve the purpose of a Master thesis only, but intends rather to positively contribute to the lives of the people involved in it.

3.8.3 LIMITATIONS

Overall, a fieldwork period of only nine weeks was too short to get a truly deep insight into a topic as complex as indigenous culture. Especially considering issues such as my appearance as a white researcher in a post-colonial and post-Apartheid setting, it became clear that it would need a longer time in the field to be able to fully understand the notion of cultural brokerage and the setting in which it is embedded.

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Having only a limited contextual knowledge of my research setting previous to my arrival is another limitation of my study. However, I was lucky to be able to collaborate with Tsakani Nyoni, a local student that was present at the presentation of my research proposal in the beginning of the fieldwork and thereupon volunteered to be my research assistant. Being an IKS graduate interested in the actualization of preservation of indigenous knowledge and its relevance in the future, Tsakani was the perfect candidate to help me throughout the period of data collection, and she especially assisted me by introducing me into their history, customs and cultural rules of the Vhavenda. As almost all of my sixteen main respondents were proficient in English, I only needed a translator for in-depth interviews in three cases.

Other, more logistic limitations were linked to heavy rain periods that would render travel impossible, several student protests at the University of Venda for days on end or power cuts that happened once or twice a day and interrupted the normal course of daily life for several hours. Due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, my last week in Vhembe was cut short, forcing me to leave some follow-up interviews and participant observation moments undone. The uncertainty of the development of events and thereto relating possibility of my departure furthermore made the last days before departure very hectic and distracted.

3.9 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Performing a research on indigenous knowledge in a context marked by racial sues and in a community that repeatedly experienced research as something that most white researchers do, to then disappear and never come back, to me as white, female, privileged student coming from Europe required to be aware and reflexive of position in this context. Moreover, this was the first time I did a research outside my own cultural context, which did not come without challenges in terms of an ethical justification of my research aim and presence in the field. It was important to me to perform a research that is considered as useful for the fieldwork context in the eyes of the local people. An appropriate channel to question my research aim was facilitated by the Community Engagement department of the University of Venda, in the first week of my fieldwork. Hence, before starting with the collection of data, I presented my research proposal in front of fellow researchers of the African Studies and Community Engagement department of the University of Venda, allowing for a joint discussion of my approach and intention. This was also an opportunity to reflect on ethically relevant aspects of this research, such as the issue of what will happen with the collected data. As I tried to

Cultural Brokers in the Indigenous Knowledge System Preservation of the Vhavenda: a case study in Vhembe, South Africa