With limited healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa, many females rely on traditional medicines (TM) to address their maternal health needs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has advocated for the integration of TM into the National Healthcare System to improve health outcomes. This study explored the perspectives of traditional healers, midwives, and community healthcare workers on the integration of TM into maternal healthcare in Lesotho to understand the pathways and barriers to integration. The study was conducted in three villages in Lesotho: (1) Ha-Shalabeng (urban), (2) Ha-Molengoane (peri-urban), and (3) Ha-Setoko (rural). The study employed an exploratory qualitative design. The 10 participants were selected purposively and qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using a thematic analysis. The following three main themes were identified: (1) factors influencing the use of TM during pregnancy; (2) stakeholders’ perceptions of the integration of TM into maternal healthcare; and (3) challenges to successful integration. The findings indicated that TM plays a crucial role in maternal healthcare, with various factors influencing its utilisation. The integration of TM into maternal healthcare has been impeded by multiple factors that need to be addressed. Contribution: Achieving successful integration will require collaborative efforts and active engagement with all relevant stakeholders.
Cyberbullying has become an increasing concern within higher education, particularly since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, when university students began extensively utilising digital communication platforms for both academic and social interaction. This study examines students’ experiences of cyberbullying at a university in the Eastern Cape through the lens of Ubuntu [I am because we are]. Ubuntu emphasises human interconnectedness, harmony, respect and moral responsibility among individuals. A qualitative research design was employed to gain an in-depth understanding of students’ experiences of cyberbullying. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 15 participants who had experience of cyberbullying. Data were collected through three focus group discussions, each comprising five participants. Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Three key findings emerged from the analysis: (1) participants reported various forms of harassment, including public humiliation, threats and the spread of private information, which resulted in anxiety, social retreat and academic disengagement, (2) to cope with harassment, participants utilised strategies such as blocking bullies, deactivating social media accounts and seeking peer support and (3) participants suggested Ubuntu-informed restorative initiatives such as perpetrator education and awareness campaigns rather than solely punitive measures. Contribution: The study contributes to emerging decolonial scholarship on cyberbullying within South African higher institutions. It demonstrates how an Ubuntu-informed framework offers a culturally relevant lens for understanding online harm, students’ coping strategies and institutional responses to cyberbullying in higher education.
This study analyses the tension between the Reformed churches’ traditional emphasis on formal liturgical worship in church buildings and the increasing inclination towards outdoor or garden weddings in African Reformed contexts. The central question is whether outdoor settings may uphold Reformed theological tenets while authentically incorporating African cultural expressions. A contextual theological framework was developed to evaluate garden marriages in Reformed churches, analyse the suitability of outdoor environments with Reformed liturgical norms and provide guidelines that honour both traditions. The employed methodology, hermeneutical analysis, integrates Reformed interpretative traditions with African perspectives. Research was conducted using resources such as Journal Storage (JSTOR), EBSCOhost, Google Scholar and American Theological Library Association Serials (ATLAS), incorporating search terms relevant to Reformed liturgy, African worship, garden weddings, contextual theology and related subjects. Of the 47 identified sources, 38 met the inclusion criteria, prioritising peer-reviewed articles and academic monographs published between 2010 and 2025, with pre-2010 sources included only when foundational. The findings indicate that outdoor settings are not inherently theologically problematic when appropriate procedures enable genuine worship expression. Garden environments can elevate traditional African communal celebrations while preserving essential elements of Reformed covenant theology. Contribution: The study recommends that African Reformed churches establish denominational standards for evaluating garden wedding venues, develop minimum liturgical prerequisites for outdoor ceremonies and engage in ongoing contextual theological exploration. This ensures that venue choices honour both Reformed confessional principles and authentic African cultural expressions, thereby enriching discussions on liturgical inculturation and postcolonial African Christianity.
This article explores how community-based research (CBR) can serve as a transformative and collaborative method for addressing community challenges, poverty, and exclusion in KwaZulu-Natal. Over 30 years have passed since South Africa achieved freedom, during which the government has funded numerous CBR projects to understand community needs and address power disparities to enhance community well-being. Despite these efforts, living conditions in many communities have deteriorated because of rising poverty, unemployment and exclusion. Consequently, we adopted a social justice and emancipation approach, guided by critical theory, to empower marginalised groups and improve their well-being. The study employed qualitative research methods, including in-depth semi-structured interviews with five senior government officials who fund CBR, 10 senior researchers specialising in CBR, and two focus group discussions with community members and leaders. Additionally, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to gain significant insights from researchers, community members and government officials. The findings reveal that whilst CBR holds substantial potential for addressing complex social issues in KwaZulu-Natal, its effectiveness is hindered by challenges related to power dynamics, resource limitations and community exclusion. Contribution: This article proposes a framework to address challenges associated with interventions, project implementation, discrimination and community capacity-building. This framework aims to enhance community knowledge and equip them to tackle their challenges and improve their well-being. Furthermore, we advocate for a shift from a top-down approach to participatory strategies that enable communities to articulate their needs and co-create knowledge for sustainable solutions.
The erosion of the term ‘Father’ from societal vocabulary reflects a deeper social and spiritual crisis in African communities. This article examines how Christianity and colonialism disrupted African family structures and aims to propose pathways for their theological and cultural reconstruction. Using the See–Judge–Act methodology, this conceptual–theological study engages historical, cultural and theological analysis to trace how Christianity and colonialism redefined the African understanding of family, fatherhood and communal responsibility. It draws on isiZulu cosmology, the notion of umsamo [the family altar], and the ubuntu ethic of interdependence. The study finds that colonialism – through urbanisation, migrant labour and forced removals – and certain Western forms of Christianity displaced the home as the centre of worship, eroding the familial priesthood and the communal cohesion that once anchored African societies. Yet overlaps between African spirituality and Christianity offer possibilities for renewal, particularly through mentorship, collective fatherhood and shared moral formation. Contribution: This study contributes to African theological discourse by firstly redefining ‘family’ as a community of shared responsibility rather than a nuclear unit. Secondly, proposing the re-centring of the home as a sacred site of worship and formation. Thirdly, advocating a theology of fatherhood grounded in ubuntu and communal ethics. It concludes that rebuilding the umsamo – literally and symbolically – can restore moral and spiritual wholeness in postcolonial African societies.
According to many scientists and philosophers, the concept of ‘Freewill’ for Homo sapiens is largely considered non-existent due to the deterministic nature of sapiens’ brains, where every decision is influenced by a complex interplay of factors like genetics, environ, past experiences and neurochemistry (or as it is also described in theology: hermeneutics), all operating beyond our conscious control, essentially predetermining our choices. Perhaps the oldest question ever in philosophy has been the rhetoric betwixt freewill and/or determinism. Not just in Western philosophy, but also in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern parts of the World, examining the rational inquiries of the truths and principles of being of knowledge, in three philosophical entities, namely: natural philosophy, moral philosophy and metaphysical philosophy. However, the greatest piece of the pie will go on in dealing with the African metaphysical scrutiny in trying to obtain a tenacity by obtaining a reciprocal vernacular betwixt the three. Contribution: This phenomenon of African existence evolves into an ambiguity and/or haziness among the unanimity of this antithesis. This amenity and/or pleasantness and awe embody the notion that by being African sapiens must swing towards modernism – meaning that the higher the ability would be to pinpoint subjective determinisms of ownership to the fringe or the verge. Why? Because of the inevitability of the evolution of modernism within the African continent that must give way now to the individual. In the same disposition, there is a real obligation and wish for cognitive adjustment from untidy yet compelling fraternity to a joint ability to accommodate this extreme profound complexity.
In this article, the author propose and argue for a Southern African-centred account of mental disorder that defines this mental condition in both evaluative and causal terms. It argues that mental illness must be understood through value judgements and primary causal factors. According to this account, for a condition to qualify as a mental disorder, it must meet three individually necessary and together sufficient criteria: (1) it must affect the mental state of an individual (beyond normal emotional responses), (2) it must be evaluated negatively by both an individual and the community and (3) there must be an identifiable non-physical cause(s). Contribution: This article proposes a Southern African account of mental disorder, understood as a pathological condition, that differs from existing theories of disease, namely naturalism, normativism and hybridism in the philosophy of medicine. It draws on the cultural perspective of amafufunyana within the Southern African context and explores the implications of this account for consultation practice.
In an African context, the concept of death inspires discussions about rituals and ways of remembering the departed, with the latter being influenced largely by how they lived, including what they loved and spoke about. The prevalence of the saying ra mufi ari tluriwi among some South African black communities, like the Vatsonga and Vhavenda, is often received with mixed expressions and feelings, in which the bereaved family are often confronted with a difficult choice between doing and not doing what is requested by the deceased. As much as this saying conveys the respect held by the living for the wishes and the instructions expressed by the deceased prior to their departure, it also raises issues of the feasibility and acceptability of what is being claimed to have been the deceased’s proposal or plan. It becomes more debatable if it is about the funeral and the possessions the deceased left behind, especially if the plan or words of the deceased are not written as was the tradition in the African context. The wishes of the deceased may be about how his or her burial should be conducted and arranged or about what he or she leaves behind in the form of inheritance. Recalling what the deceased said or proposed becomes more subjective, and the engagement about that may prolong or even disrupt the funeral arrangements, depending on the contestations of the veracity of the raised matter. This article intends to find out if the practice of honouring and respecting the wishes of deceased people is relevant and valid within contemporary society prior to and after their funerals. The study will adopt structured interviews with the cultural representatives in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Contribution: The research reported in this article was carried out with the intention of an unbiased examination of the circumstances relating to the carrying out of the wishes of the deceased.
This Table of Contents reflects the print compilation of peer-reviewed articles published in the journal. Each article listed was originally published online under the journal’s open access model and remains individually accessible and citable. This compilation has been created solely for print distribution, reference, and archival purposes. No new research content is introduced. The publisher affirms that all articles included in this compilation have undergone the journal’s standard editorial and peer-review processes.
This qualitative study explores the challenges in implementing community development interventions in South Africa using asset-based community development (ABCD) and sustainable livelihood (SL) frameworks. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 21 purposively selected participants from four development centres in Tshwane, Gauteng. Thematic analysis was employed to interpret responses, ensuring alignment with the study’s focus on empowerment and sustainable growth. Verification was achieved through the triangulation of participant perspectives and theoretical frameworks. Ethical adherence included informed consent, confidentiality and institutional approval. The findings reveal that ABCD and SL approaches foster participatory, relationship-driven change, contrasting with deficit-focused needs-based models. Challenges include a lack of participation, a lack of assets and funds, inadequate capacity building and a lack of sustainability. Participants emphasised the importance of community agency and asset mobilisation over external dependency. Contribution: The researcher argues that to promote sustainable social change, a shift should take place from focusing on deficiencies and external assets to concentrating on communities’ internal strengths and assets. The focus should be on the discovery and strengthening of community members’ internal assets, capabilities and strengths, thus leveraging these assets with external assets. The implications of the study are that for community development interventions to be sustainable, there is a need to mobilise community participation, strengths and assets of the community members in the quest to empower them to be self-reliant and sustain their livelihoods.
Finding formal employment in South Africa is challenging, especially for those with children who need support for basic needs and education. Many individuals turn to the informal sector, such as waste pickers, as a means to support their children and meet their basic needs and responsibilities as caregivers. This article observes the parental responsibilities of informal workers, specifically scrap collectors in the Eastern Cape. The study employs a qualitative approach, using an exploratory research design, and is grounded in Ubudlelane philosophy as its theoretical framework. A total of 10 female scrap collectors in Mthatha were selected through convenience sampling. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted, and the data were analysed thematically. The findings reveal that female scrap collectors in Mthatha face significant challenges balancing informal work with family responsibilities, often impacting their children’s development. Children are sometimes involved in scrap collection or left in risky situations, such as guarding scrap along the N2 highway (National Road), because of limited childcare support. These workers strive to meet their children’s needs despite the challenges posed by their precarious employment. Based on these findings, the article recommends that social workers support scrap collectors in fulfilling their parental responsibilities. This could include developing welfare programmes aimed at nurturing and sustaining the well-being of children in these vulnerable families. Contribution: The study contributes to the critical discourse on gender disparities and the holistic challenges faced by women in the informal waste-picking sector.
Bride price has remained a permanent martial culture by which some women are subordinated in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study intends to critically analyse the implications of bride price practices on marriage institutions in Cameroon, with a special case of Bali Nyonga of North West Region. Stratified, purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select the 18 respondents (9 males and 9 females). The Roland Empowerment Framework, Feminist and Human Rights Theories were used to explain the concept of bride price. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Although they attract prominent suitors, education and virginity do not determine the bride price. While some were exposed to levirate marriages, they are required to refund bride price upon divorce. Some men are expected to pay bride price for their dead women before being allowed to bury them. For some women who are seen as real and full women bride price brings wealth and women voices to be heard. There are few families who do not receive bride price at all. Contribution: Bride price is the sole and most relevant pre-requisite for marriage in Bali Nyonga that encompasses any other marriage requirements; it must be completely paid and refundable upon divorce. Women should form a synergy to collectively fight against harmful traditional bride price practices such as levirate marriage, collaborate with men to take part in bridal negotiation, while more women should engage in research on bride price-related issues.
This study is inspired by Sannere’s song ‘Lerato’ in his accordion music that depicts Basotho women positively. For a very long time, the portrayal of women in Basotho accordion music has always been negative. Negativity seems to be depicted through certain songs of many Basotho accordion music artists. However, in his song, ‘Lerato’, Sannere marks a new turn that merits the attention of scholars as it challenges the prevailing delineation of women in Basotho accordion music. In a notable departure, from the negative portrayal of a woman, Sannere in his song ‘Lerato’, assumes agency by communicating messages of love, appreciation and respect for a Mosotho woman. This study seeks to unpack Sannere’s song ‘Lerato’ to affirm his positive contribution to the portrayal of women. This study employed Africana Womanism as its theoretical framework to scrutinise the portrayal of women. By listening to this song several times, the researcher identified the notions of interest and analysed only the parts of the song that merited the notion of interest with a focus on their lyrical content. A thematic analysis of this song revealed how Sannere portrays women challenging the negative portrayal of women in this genre. This study argues that the negative portrayal of women in the Basotho accordion music is precarious for human society, highlighting its effects both in Lesotho and South Africa. Contribution: The findings of this study will contribute to Basotho accordion music studies, underscoring the significance of African Womanism in understanding African women.
This research is a multidisciplinary study constituting both indigenous knowledge systems and medical anthropology, which focuses on people’s health and well-being and the possible cultural ways of dealing with factors influencing their health and well-being. This study aimed to explore and describe what are the views of Moletjie-Ramakgaphola community on the causes of measles. Lastly to come up with recommendations on how indigenous knowledge can be incorporated in the epidemiology of measles. The study followed a qualitative research approach. Purposive sampling was used with snowballing as a technique. Data were collected and fieldnotes were written during the interviews to record the non-verbal cues from the participants and face-to-face interviews with an interview schedule. Scientific research procedures and ethics were respected and maintained throughout the research process from the initial stage to the last. The collected data were analysed using thematic analysis. Our research findings are threefold. The first category is the terminology used in a vernacular language (Sepedi) to refer to measles. The second category is the limited knowledge by participants regarding the causes and symptoms of measles form both African and Western perspectives. The third category is the knowledge by participants on curative measures from indigenous point of view and otherwise. Contribution: This research sought to make a scholarly contribution to the field of anthropology and indigenous knowledge systems with specific reference to the epidemiology of measles.
Countries, including Zimbabwe, have been battling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by enacting measures such as national quarantines, border closures, online work and school closures to reduce the speed of transmission. These lockdown policies tend to increase the occurrence of domestic violence because of isolation, coupled with economic and psychological stress. Cultural and patriarchal systems have also fuelled violence against women. The present study sought to assess the nature of domestic violence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic among African Christian women in the Gwanda district. The study adopted a qualitative methodological approach, utilising a case study research design. The African Christian women participants were purposively selected. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were the research instruments used to collect data. The findings revealed intensified physical and sexual violence against African Christian women in Gwanda district since the outbreak of COVID-19. There was an increase in calls reporting domestic violence cases using helplines. Sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women continued to occur in homes, on streets, in public spaces and online. Survivors faced limited information and challenges in accessing support services. The study concluded that all types of violence against women intensified during COVID- 19 pandemic lockdowns. Policy changes and strategies are needed to reduce domestic violence among African Christian women during the turbulent times. Contribution: This article aligns with the theme of African women, pandemics and religion. Understanding the types of domestic violence can assist policy makers in addressing this issue in the society.
The Setswana belief system holds that all forms of murder, accidental and or intentional are an abomination. It also holds that no person has the right to apportion for themselves the right to kill another, not only because life is sacred, but because murder defiles and desecrates nature. Even without the scientific knowledge of climate change, Batswana have always been aware that the ecological crisis is a result of human actions of brutality towards each other and towards nature. It is a shock that Botswana is experiencing extremely high levels of violence against women including femicide. Therefore, this article engages eco-feminist and masculinity theories to establish a relationship between hegemonic masculinity, femicide and environmental concerns. The article addresses its objectives by means of four sections: (1) Introduction-violence against women, (2) Discussions of theoretical frameworks, ecofeminism and masculinity or masculinities, (3) Setswana belief system regarding the environment, (4) Conclusion and recommendations. Contribution: The world is experiencing an ecological crisis and this paper suggests that hegemonic masculinity which legitimises violence against women is the reason for this crisis. Therefore, communities need to deconstruct attributes of hegemonic masculinities that encourage the abuse of women and nature.
This article demonstrates that Setswana proverbs enrich the concept of leadership within the Setswana culture. Some Setswana proverbs and cultural leadership principles are in synergy towards character formation, community building and competency expectations. In other words, leadership principles expressed through Setswana proverbs are categorised according to the character, community and competency in leadership. There are hundreds of proverbs in this language speaking about character formation whereby an individual takes responsibility for self-formation through community engagement based on leadership. The kgosi [king] is expected by the community to be competent in or through participative leadership style. The kgosi is a leader showing no favouritism, but is accommodative to all people regardless of their abilities and disabilities. The three Cs (Character, Community and Competency) are not ordered in priority, but for discussion purposes. The discussion starts by understanding the Setswana concept of leadership and makes conclusions by appealing to the inclusion of Setswana proverbs in all academic interdisciplinary studies as a way of decolonising education towards emancipation from religio-cultural inhibitions and stereotypes.Contribution: This article reawakens the importance of the knowledge of African proverbs and idioms. These are invaluable tools with high potency towards the decolonisation of education including religion and philosophy in Africa. Leadership from an African perspective, especially from Setswana understanding, is accurately expressed through some Setswana proverbs. Learning leadership principles through Setswana proverbs enriches African epistemologies and ontologies.
This Table of Contents reflects the print compilation of peer-reviewed articles published in the journal. Each article listed was originally published online under the journal’s open access model and remains individually accessible and citable. This compilation has been created solely for print distribution, reference, and archival purposes. No new research content is introduced. The publisher affirms that all articles included in this compilation have undergone the journal’s standard editorial and peer-review processes.
© 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel karger@karger.com www.karger.com/bbe On behalf of Karger Publishers and the Editorial Board, we would like to express our greatest gratitude to the reviewers who acted for the benefit of our journal, in 2020. We have chosen not to disclose the names of our reviewers. Indeed, given the narrow field of specialty of most of the submitted papers, it would have been challenging to keep the anonymity of the reviewers. Still, we believe that anonymity should remain a key principle for the review process used for Brain, Behavior, and Evolution.
