The Mpumalanga MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini, met traditional health practitioners at Malele Traditional Council on Thursday May 25.
The meeting was part of the executive council outreach programme and stakeholders’ engagements.
Addressing the meeting, Manzini said, “In all, the stakeholders of the Department of Health (DoH) decided to choose traditional health practitioners because we believe you are equally important in the provision of healthcare to our people, and we should act as partners.
We urged boGogo to encourage patients to test for diseases such as HIV/Aids, diabetes and cancer before alleging that it is witchcraft.”
Manzini further made commitments that the DoH will provide training to traditional health practitioners and they should suggest in which aspects they need training.
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“I urged boGogo to protect the image of traditional health practices by working in a safe and hygienic environment, and treat patients and initiates with respect and dignity. Most importantly, let’s show the world that real traditional health practitioners are not associated with the killing of people or the use of human body parts to heal our people,” said Sarah Pula, the chairperson of the Traditional Health Practitioners.
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During the engagement, members requested that co-operation with the department should be improved, and they asked for frequent training so that they could also contribute positively to the people.
