Culture and Cultural Rights

Much of the ancient San culture and traditional practices in southern Africa have been assimilated into the ways of life and values brought by the colonialists and migrating black ethnic groups. Many San are deeply saddened by the loss of their culture and the lack of understanding which still prevails in relation to their traditional practices and beliefs. WIMSA has been working closely with the San in order to facilitate the ‘rediscovery' of San culture, whilst at the same time seeking to protect and assert San cultural rights and heritage.

Intellectual Property Rights

Over time, the San have suffered from an ‘intellectual hi-jacking' of their traditional knowledge and culture. This has usually occurred at the hands of individuals and companies involved in the media and tourism industries, although well-meaning researchers, authors and scientists have also infringed on the rights of the San.

The subject of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) can be a difficult one for many people to agree with; i.e. at what stage does traditional knowledge enter the public domain? However, due to their marginalised status and naïve generosity over the past centuries, the San have lost or given away much of their heritage and culture. In recent years, with the assistance of WIMSA, the San have begun to assert themselves and are no longer willing to be passive observers as credit and profit is taken by others for San knowledge and traditions. This movement to defend IPR is not unique to the San however; Indigenous Peoples from all over the world are increasingly becoming central role players and stakeholders in the field of biodiversity and traditional knowledge.

WIMSA has produced a ‘Handbook on San Intellectual Property Rights'- for the use of San communities and those interested in undertaking work which may utilise San culture and knowledge.

See the publication section for further details.
Various papers written by WIMSA on this subject of IPR can also be viewed here.

San Media and Research Contract

In order to fully enable the San to defend their Intellectual Property Rights, a ‘Media and Research Contract of the San of southern Africa ' has been produced by WIMSA. The signing of this contract means that all researchers and media representatives who work with the San have undertaken to respect the heritage of the San and have agreed not to utilise any research or information obtained, without the express permission of the San.

To date, this contract has been honoured by the majority of researchers and media workers. You can download a copy of the ‘Media and Research Contract of the San of southern Africa' here.or access it via the Information and Publications section on this website.

Hoodia

The San have experienced much media attention in relation to the ‘Hoodia issue'. Hoodia is a succulent, indigenous to southern Africa and has been used by the San for centuries in order to reduce feelings of hunger when carrying out long hunting trips. However, in 2001 the San discovered that ‘P57' a Hoodia appetite-suppressant gene had been patented by the South African Council Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1996, in order to produce an anti-obesity/ weight loss drug. On behalf of the San, WIMSA and its lawyer entered into and concluded successful negotiations with CSIR, who then acknowledged the San's prior Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to the use of Hoodia.

A subsequent benefit-sharing agreement was signed between the two parties in March 2003. Its terms being that:

i) CSIR will pay the San 8% of all milestone payments it receives from its licensee and:
ii) CSIR will also pay the San 6% of all royalties that the CSIR itself receives once the drug is commercially available.

Following the agreement, a San Hoodia Trust was established in order to ensure the effective management of future funds for the San.

The South African San Council (SASC) was mandated to deal with this issue on behalf of all San. A further joint Bioprospecting Agreement was signed between the SASC and CSIR in 2004, following an invitation by CSIR to the San to consider future work together in relation to traditional knowledge surrounding plants. In February 2006, WIMSA signed a Joint Venture Hoodia Growing Agreement with the South African Hoodia Growers (Pty) Ltd, which aims to give the San a 6% share in raw Hoodia grown for the fresh Hoodia food or dietary supplement markets.

IPR continues to be an issue of high importance to the San, culminating in the publication of an informative booklet on the subject in 2004. See the publication section for further details (again, this is the ‘Handbook on San Intellectual Property Rights')

Cultural Education

The San have witnessed a huge revival in the protection, knowledge and awareness of their culture and cultural rights during recent years. Of course, the issue of culture cuts across many of WIMSA's programmes and WIMSA's activities in this area cannot be isolated from other issues and events;

Oral Testimony

A Regional Oral Testimony Collection has been conducted by WIMSA and the Kuru Family of Organisations (KFO) since 1999. To date, over 300 oral testimonies have been collected by San, representing eight San language groups across southern Africa . The actual process of carrying out the interviews proved to have an incredibly empowering and healing effect for both the interview and the interviewees. Many young San learned valuable information about their identity and heritage as a result of this work. To date, five publications have been produced as a result of the project. See the publication section for further details and due to the great interest in oral testimony, WIMSA continues to run oral testimony training courses for the San.

Youth Groups

During the last three years, WIMSA has provided time, financial assistance and moral support to the growing number of young San who have expressed the desire to establish their own Youth Groups. Although the Youth Groups also carry out work to directly help their communities; such as supporting San orphans, and campaigning on behalf of San languages (see Education and Capacity Building sections) there is still a large focus on cultural revival, the collection of traditional knowledge and celebrations of cultural practices. Both the Hai||om and Khwe Youth Groups in Namibia have developed traditional dance groups and have involved San elders in order to teach them more about their traditional knowledge and practices.

HIV/AIDS

Due to their poverty and lack of access to education, the HIV/AIDS virus disproportionately affects the San. WIMSA received funding for a HIV/AIDS programme to take place in the Omaheke Region of Namibia in 2003 and in 2005, WIMSA employed a Regional Health Advisor (HIV/AIDS) to provide specific training targeted at the San. In 2005, both the Hai||om and Khwe Youth Leagues undertook WIMSA training to learn how to carry out HIV Community Assessments and during the training it was found that knowledge in relation to basic HIV and sexual reproduction/ health information was very low amongst the San trainees. WIMSA is therefore, committed to ensuring that San cultural events and training includes the issue of HIV/AIDS as far as possible and that all of WIMSA's programmes include the issue of HIV/AIDS as a matter of course.

!Khwattu

The !Khwattu San Culture and Education Centre is a WIMSA/Ubuntu project located in the Western Cape of South Africa. !Khwattu was established as a direct result of the desire expressed by San throughout the region to have their own learning centre in order to enable them to learn more about San history, traditional practices and to promote their culture and languages. Tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries in southern Africa and this WIMSA/Ubuntu project also focuses on training the San to effectively take control of their own destiny in relation to San tourism – rather than subjecting themselves to exploitation by others. Courses on tour guiding, tourism management and tracking etc. are offered to the San at !Khwattu.

!Khwattu aims to restore and display San heritage and culture, to educate the general public about the San and to provide training to the San in the areas of entrepreneurship, tourism, health, community development, craft production/ marketing and gender issues. Since 1999, San trainees from Namibia and South Africa have lived and worked at !Khwattu on a rotational basis whilst they undertake important learning and training opportunities.

!Khwattu is located on beautiful hillside farmland, just 70km north of Cape Town. Facilities available at !Khwattu include full conference amenities, a Restaurant and Craft Shop, Walking Trails/ Tractor Rides, San Photo Gallery, Audiovisual Theatre and a Boma. Accommodation is also available – in the !Khwattu guesthouse, bush cottage or specially designed ‘back to nature' camp site. See www.khwattu.org for more details.

[ Overview ] [ Education ] [ Human Rights ] [ San Representation & Leadership ] [ Culture & Cultural Rights ]