Documenting indigenous knowledge systems' role within the governance of marine and coastal conservation in South Africa - a Sokhulu case study

Lebeko, Tlotlo Bridgette

Documenting indigenous knowledge systems' role within the governance of marine and coastal conservation in South Africa - a Sokhulu case study

Thesis / Dissertation

2026

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

A vast body of literature provides historical accounts of the establishment of nature conservation interventions and their manifestations in post-colonial Africa. These studies highlight the impact of Western conservation ideals on the relationship between African Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLCs) and nature and how natural resource governance was constituted. Narratives of disenfranchisement, dispossession, and marginalisation emerge centrally. Local people were stripped from their ancestral lands, disconnected from historical rights and access to natural resources, and subjected to the systematic erasure of Indigenous and local ecological knowledge. This paves the way for a Western-constructed ideal of ‘pristine', ‘wilderness', and ‘biodiversity' protection. This has placed significant focus on managing marine and coastal environments and resources. Building on these historical dynamics of nature conservation in practice and its impact on IPLCs, this research project uses the rural coastal community of Sokhulu in northern Kwa- Zulu Natal, South Africa, as a lens to enhance an in-depth understanding of what local ecological knowledge of IPLCs constitutes, with the view to contributing to how it can be incorporated into conservation planning, processes, and practices where the inclusion of IPLCs is increasingly being encouraged. Documenting oral histories of this community underscores how Afrocentric Indigenous Knowledge systems (AIKS), guided by the principle of respect, continue to function as a local approach to ecological governance in post-apartheid South Africa. It responds to global sustainable development policy calls (i.e Agenda 21, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES), and Kunming-Montreal Framework (K-M GBF) and illustrates the rich knowledge present in this community by demonstrating the importance of effectively integrating IPLCs into natural resource governance.