Analysis of Personalistic Systems of Illness Causation in Bapedi Culture

Pages: 308-310

Sejabaledi A. Rankoana (Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Limpopo, South Africa)

Human and supernatural beings are responsible for illness causality under a personalistic paradigm of illness causation. Among the Bapedi people of South Africa’s Limpopo Province, a personalistic concept of illness etiology has been documented. A person-centered model of illness etiology was discovered through semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 273. The study results report that humans and supernatural beings are both associated with the etiology of illness. God and the gods are among the supernatural beings, whereas witches and sorcerers are among the humans. This research is significant because it sheds light on the connection between cultural beliefs about the origins of sickness and subsequent attitudes about seeking medical attention and trusting traditional medicine. Effective integrated primary health care programs that address the requirements of indigenous communities could be created with the help of indigenous peoples’ etiology of disease.