Last week, the University of Fort Hare (UFH), in partnership with African Hidden Voices, hosted the 2025 Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Conference, a three-day scholarly gathering dedicated to positioning African knowledge at the centre of higher education, community development, and national transformation.
Hosted at the UFH Early Childhood Care Education Centre on the East London campus, the conference brought together traditional leaders, academics, researchers, students, policymakers, and knowledge custodians for deep reflection and collaborative action.
Day 1 opened with a warm welcome by UFH’s Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, Prof Patrick Osode. In his address, Prof Osode stressed the significant role played by higher learning institutions in safeguarding, revitalising, and embedding Indigenous Knowledge meaningfully into research, curricula, innovation, and community development initiatives.
The keynote speaker, Dr Nompumelelo Radebe, set the tone for the discussions with a powerful address on African spirituality and knowledge systems, highlighting their value in shaping identity, sustainability, and community well-being. Her presentation laid the groundwork for an engaging panel discussion on African Identities and Cosmologies for Sustainability with the Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof Tsediso Makoelle, imparting words of wisdom thereafter.
Parallel sessions that followed offered a rich intellectual spread. Scholars unpacked themes including intergenerational knowledge transfer, the blending of traditional and modern healing, African cosmologies, ancestral knowledge, and storytelling as an epistemic archive.
Over the course of the conference, the programme delved into biodiversity, climate resilience, Indigenous education models, digital preservation of IKS, economic systems, governance, and sustainability through African philosophies.
In addition, the conference has paved way for an upcoming special issue to be published in the Inkanyiso – a DHET-accredited Journal of African Thought. The issue will be edited by Assoc Prof Duku, Prof Willie Chinyamurindi and Busisiwe Madikizela-Theu.