Use of an Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) to Sustaining Thermal Spring Development: A Case Study of Baleni and Sagole in Limpopo Province, South AfricaUse

Abstract

In 2010 the Water Research Commission (WRC) in South Africa funded a research project to collect data on thermal springs in South Africa. Researchers from the Universities of South Africa, Pretoria, Johannesburg, and the Council for Geosciences in Pretoria participated in the research project. Numerous field trips were undertaken to collect water samples from thermal springs throughout the country. Furthermore, a literature study was conducted to understand the uses of thermal springs globally. Interviews were held with selected managers and local people to investigate how thermal springs were used and managed. Findings include that a number of thermal springs that had been documented and mapped during the 1950s had dried up. The findings also established that Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) used by the local people assisted to sustain some of the thermal springs. This paper explains how IKS was applied to sustain the use of the two thermal springs, Baleni and Sagole in deep rural areas.