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2026-05-28 18:51:13
[Approximately 300,000 Traditional Medicine Practitioners in South Africa Have Been Unregulated for Nearly 20 Years, Law Implementation Delayed for a Long Time] (1) The Health Committee of the South African Parliament stated that due to the failure to implement key provisions of the Traditional Medicine Practitioners Act for many years, approximately 300,000 traditional medicine practitioners have been unregulated for a long time, resulting in a serious regulatory gap. (2) The Act was passed in 2007, and a statutory council was established in 2014, but the core provisions have not been implemented after 12 years; the council's funding is extremely limited (the 2024 budget is approximately 6.7 million rand), and the model of relying on registration fees is impractical because many practitioners are located in economically vulnerable rural communities. (3) The committee pointed out that the lack of a registration system makes it impossible to verify or regulate practitioners, exposing the public to the risk of harmful medical practices; the council has been in a "provisional" state since 2014, weakening accountability. The Ministry of Health and the council claimed that the delay was due to a backlog of regulatory approvals and procurement difficulties, but the committee believed that the explanation was insufficient and requested the submission of detailed written materials and a clear implementation plan.
