North-West University (NWU) PhD candidate Thulisile Bhuda has been appointed by the Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture Nathi Mthethwa as a member of the Indigenous Knowledge / Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) National Authentication Panel for three years, from August 2021 to July 2024.

Thulisile says she is honoured to have been selected to be part of the panel and she is ready to serve.

“This appointment acknowledges the work I am doing in promoting South Africa’s indigenous knowledge systems and preserving the South African cultural heritage,” she adds.

The purpose of the panel and its members is to advise and assist the Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture in safeguarding and promoting South Africa’s indigenous knowledge systems according to the department’s mandate. 

The panel’s responsibilities include advising and adjudicating on the authenticity of all South African indigenous knowledge or ICH items that will be presented for inclusion in the national inventory, as well as which elements are threatened by possible disappearance and need to be included in the national list. Furthermore, the panel will also advise on a process of consultation between communities and various government spheres to promote and protect indigenous knowledge within communities.

More about Thulisile

Thulisile Buda is a lecturer in culture and heritage studies at the University of Mpumalanga, and is pursuing a PhD in indigenous knowledge systems at the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus.

In her PhD studies, Thulisile is investigating the origin of mathematical ideas and concepts in Ndebele artifacts. Her NWU master’s study focused on Ndebele ethnomathematics, proving that Ndebele women use symmetrical geometry in their beadwork and mural art.

Her fields of expertise are African metallurgy, African ethnomathematics, and African cosmology and metaphysics.