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An Ethnobotanical Survey of the Agter-Hantam, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

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An Ethnobotanical Survey of the Agter-Hantam, Northern Cape Province, South Africa AN ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY OF THE AGTER-HANTAM, NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA by JOSEF J.J. DE BEER DISSERTATION Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MAGISTER SCIENTIAE in BOTANY in the FACULTY OF SCIENCE at the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR BEN-ERIK VAN WYK JANUARY 2012 AFFIDAVIT: MASTER’S AND DOCTORAL STUDENTS TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN This serves to confirm that I, Josef J.J. de Beer ID Number 6311115134087 Student number 908203607 enrolled for the Qualification M.Sc Faculty of Science (Botany and Plant Biotechnology) Herewith declare that my academic work is in line with the Plagiarism Policy of the University of Johannesburg which I am familiar. I further declare that the work presented in the dissertation is authentic and original unless clearly indicated otherwise and in such instances full reference to the source is acknowledged and I do not pretend to receive any credit for such acknowledged quotations, and that there is no copyright infringement in my work. I declare that no unethical research practices were used or material gained through dishonesty. I understand that plagiarism is a serious offence and that should I contravene the Plagiarism Policy notwithstanding signing this affidavit, I may be found guilty of a serious criminal offence (perjury) that would amongst other consequences compel the UJ to inform all other tertiary institutions of the offence and to issue a corresponding certificate of reprehensible academic conduct to whomever request such a certificate from the institution. Signed at Johannesburg on this 23rd of April 2012 Signature______________________________ Print name Josef Johannes Jacobus de Beer STAMP COMMISSIONER OF OATHS Affidavit certified by a Commissioner of Oaths This affidavit conforms with the requirements of the JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND COMMISSIONERS OF OATHS ACT 16 OF 1963 and the applicable Regulations published in the GG GNR 1258 of 21 July 1972; GN 903 of 10 July 1998; GN 109 of 2 February 2001 as amended. Typical scene in the Agter-Hantam, where the study was conducted 1 M.Sc. dissertation J.J.J. de Beer An ethnobotanical survey of the Agter-Hantam, Northern Cape Province ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor and mentor, Professor Ben-Erik van Wyk, for accompanying and guiding me on this incredible journey of discovery and learning. I am inspired by your enthusiasm and passion, and you have opened a new door for me in my career as a teacher educator, where I can now give guidance on how indigenous knowledge can be incorporated in the Life Sciences curriculum. Thank you for the wonderful field trips, the opportunity to present papers with you at the SAAB and IPUF conferences in Potchefstroom, Keimoes and St Lucia, and for your academic scaffolding that resulted in this work being published in the South African Journal of Botany. Thank you also for venturing with me into unknown terrain, with our publication in The American Biology Teacher. I salute you. I sincerely thank the University of Johannesburg for their financial support. I wish to express my gratitude towards my colleagues and friends at the University of Johannesburg. I particular, I would like to thank my supportive dean and good friend, Professor Saartjie Gravett, my colleagues in Science and Technology Education, in particular, Professors Duan van der Westhuizen and Alan Amory, and then Professor Pat Tilney from the Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology. Thank you also to my fellow post-graduate students in Botany for the camaraderie, especially Janneke Nortjé who does similar work in Namaqualand. A special word of thanks and appreciation goes to the wonderful people of the Agter- Hantam, who participated in this study with such enthusiasm. In particular, I would like to thank Jan Baadjies for sharing his wealth of knowledge, and Bertie and Anna Visagie (farm Perdekraal), as well as Dr Erwin and Alta Coetzee (Hantamhuis, Calvinia) for their kind hospitality and logistical support. Thank you also to Teodor van Wyk, for his assistance during the second field trip. To Elize Botha, my soul mate ̶ thank you for making it all worthwhile. 2 M.Sc. dissertation J.J.J. de Beer An ethnobotanical survey of the Agter-Hantam, Northern Cape Province SYNOPSIS This study aimed to systematically record and thus preserve indigenous plant use information of the Agter-Hantam area in a scientifically accurate way and to make a contribution to the knowledge of Khoi-San ethnobotany. The research work met all the minimum standards for ethnobotanical research as proposed by Heinrich et al. (2009), which includes that field studies should be built on a clear conceptual framework and hypothesis testing, that ethical clearance should be obtained, the methodology/ research procedures should adhere to minimum requirements, and the research should comply with data standards that will make it possible to use specific information in future experimental and applied research. The study area was the Agter-Hantam region, Calvinia district, Northern Cape Province of South Africa, where the ancestors of the supervisor have had a well-recorded presence since the 1770’s. The rapid appraisal methodology was initially used and this was followed by a new rigorous and practical quantitative approach developed during this study ̶ here referred to as the Matrix Method in conducting ethnobotanical field work. The survey has revealed a wealth of traditional knowledge on useful plants amongst people of Khoi-San decent in the Agter-Hantam. The traditional and contemporary uses of 64 plant species were accurately recorded. Previously unpublished information on indigenous plant use revealed by this study includes 14 new species records of useful plants, 20 new vernacular names not recorded in literature, and 99 new uses for 46 of the plant species. Although some work has been done in what Prance et al. (1987) coined as “quantitative ethnobotany”, this study also introduced two new terms- the Ethnobotanical Knowledge Index (EKI), a quantitative measure of a person’s knowledge of local plant use (with a value between 0 and 1), and the Species Popularity Index (SPI), a quantitative measure of the popularity of each species (value between 0 and 1). In the Agter-Hantam, the EKI of participants varied from 0.20 to 0.93. The best known and most popular indigenous plants in the Agter- Hantam are Aloe microstigma (a new species record, with a SPI of 0.97), Hoodia gordonii (SPI = 0.94), Microloma sagittatum (0.94), Sutherlandia frutescens (0.92), Quaqua incarnata (0.92) and Galenia africana (0.85). 3 M.Sc. dissertation J.J.J. de Beer An ethnobotanical survey of the Agter-Hantam, Northern Cape Province AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING Suid-Afrika beskik oor beide ‘n diverse en ryk flora, en ‘n kleurryke en diverse kultuurerfenis. Om hierdie rede sou mens verwag dat etnobotanie, oftewel die studie van hoe verskillende kultuurgroepe plante benut vir voedsel, medisyne en vir ‘n verskeidenheid ander gebruike, baie aandag geniet. Dit is helaas nie die geval nie. Hierdie etnobotaniese navorsing fokus op die ryke kultuurskat van die afstammelinge van die Khoi-San mense van die Agter-Hantam, in die Calvinia distrik, Noord-Kaap. Die Khoi-San mense van suidelike Afrika het in ‘n wye gebied voorgekom, van die Suidwes Kaap tot in Namibië. Hierdie eerste inwoners van suidelike Afrika was meesters van die veld, wat hulle plante goed geken het. Ongelukkig was hierdie inheemse kennisskat ‘n mondelinge erflating, en is baie min daarvan opgeteken in die literatuur. Khoi-San “bossiedokters” is vandag uiters skaars, en een van die min lewende tradisionele genesers van wie daar in hierdie verhandeling geskryf word, Jan Baadjies, is nie meer ‘n jong man nie. Die hipotese waarop die studie berus is dat die gebruik van plante vir voedsel-, mediese- en ander doeleindes deur die afstammelinge van die Khoi-San mense in die Agter-Hantam swak opgeteken is in die literatuur. Omdat hierdie inheemse kennis ‘n mondelinge tradisie is, loop dit die gevaar om verlore te gaan vir toekomstige geslagte. Terwyl die etnobotanie van sommige kultuurgroepe in Suid-Afrika wel redelik akkuraat opgeskryf is (byvoorbeeld die Zoeloes deur Hutchings, 1996; Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962; Van Wyk and Gericke 2000; Van Wyk et al., 2009), verwys verskeie outeurs (byvoorbeeld Liengme, 1983 en Van Wyk, 2008) na die gebrekkige literatuurrekords van plantgebruik deur die Khoi-San. Vroeë Nama plantgebruike wat deur Simon van der Stel in 1685 opgeteken is (De Wet en Pfeiffer 1979), is gevolg deur Laidler (1927) en Archer (1990). Die plantgebruik in dele soos die Hantam (Calvinia omgewing in die Noord-Kaap) is egter swak opgeteken. Die enigste opgetekende rekord vir die Agter-Hantam is deur die Sweedse plantkundige, C.P. Thunberg, wie vir Abraham van Wyk, ‘n voorouer van Ben-Erik van Wyk, op die plaas Uitvlugt op 12 Oktober 1774 besoek het. In hierdie omgewing het Thunberg die parasitiese plant Hydnora africana en sy eetbare vrugte aangeteken. Benewens 4 M.Sc. dissertation J.J.J. de Beer An ethnobotanical survey of the Agter-Hantam, Northern Cape Province hierdie enkele rekord, is daar geen kwalitatiewe of kwantitatiewe gepubliseerde etnobotaniese inligting beskikbaar vir die Agter-Hantam nie. In hierdie verhandeling is die fokus op die etnobotaniese opname wat gedoen is in die Agter-Hantam area. Die doel was om die kennis van plante wat nog bestaan, sistematies op te teken. Die Hantam area word aan hierdie naam geken sedert die middel van die agtiende eeu. Dit sluit in die gebied rondom die Hantam Berg, met die Bokkeveld na die weste, en die Roggeveld na die suide. Boesmanland omsluit die Hantam in die noordweste, en die Groot Karoo in die noordooste. Dit strek langs die Hantamrivier, en kan met ‘n grondpad bereik word, wat toegang verleen tot bekende plase soos Groot Toren, Brandwag, Klipwerf en Welbedag.
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