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women in their homesteads in the rural areas of Eshowe. Even though Western
medicinal facilities are accessible, women still depend on indigenous medicinal
plants. A sick person is taken to a western doctor only when, at first, an indigenous
intervention has failed (Zobolo and Mkhabela, 2005).
Research by Zobolo and Mkhabela (2005) revealed that all the women involved in
their study had greater knowledge of the Zulu names of plants and of their uses in
traditional healthcare practice, especially in the treatment of coughs, headache,
stomachache, toothaches, diarrhoea, wounds, asthma and diabetes. Modern
allopathic medicine has its roots in ancient medicine; and it is still likely that many
important new remedies will be discovered and commercialized in future by following
the leads provided by traditional knowledge and experience (Van Wyk et al., 1997).
In South Africa, as in most developing parts of the world, traditional herbal medicine
still forms the backbone of rural healthcare. Although the majority of the South
African population consults traditional healers for some or all of their healthcare
needs, South African government healthcare services provide only western medical
care (Light et al., 2005). It is, however, largely due to the cultural importance of
traditional medicine that the demand for these herbal remedies remains so high
(McGaw et al., 2000). According to Light et al. (2005), very little work has been
published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology on the wound-healing properties of
South African plants over the past years. For instance, only one article was
published between 2000 and 2004, which shows that there is a great need to
evaluate wound-healing remedies.
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