A/HRC/43/42/Add.1 persons with albinism, and who use their craft as a source of income. The question, therefore, seems to be one of separating “wheat from chaff”, given the important role that traditional healers play in the South African cultural and spiritual landscape. 82. Traditional healers are an important part of South African history and culture. An estimated 200,000 healers are reportedly used by 80 per cent of the general population36 – larger than the number of (allopathic) doctors. The Traditional Healers Organization reportedly has 78,000 members, who provide services to 27 million people in the country. 83. The Traditional Health Practitioners Act 2007 regulates the work of traditional healers. Pursuant to the Act, traditional healers need to be registered, to have attained a minimum level of qualifications and to be under the oversight of the Interim Council of Healers. A traditional healer could be a diviner (sangoma) or a person who calls on ancestral spirits, a herbalist (inyanga), a surgeon or a childbirth attendant. While the Act is meant to streamline the activities of healers, it is not effective in determining who is a genuine healer, from among the frauds and charlatans who are often linked to ritual attacks and killings of persons with albinism. The dilemma here is identifying who is who, and the Independent Expert raised this matter in her dialogue with over 50 traditional healers from the Traditional Healers Organization. While recognizing and protecting the inherent value of traditional healing, the Council still has the challenge of vetting healers and ensuring that bona fide practitioners are registered. 84. The secretive nature of the work of traditional healers makes this more difficult. Healers are required by law to be South African nationals, and it is reported that many who are not nationals are also practising. The lucrative nature of traditional healing generally, and with regard to harmful practices perpetrated against persons with albinism, facilitates monetization of the criminal acts of rogue and dangerous healers who are not detected by the authorities nor by their peers. The Independent Expert noted that some persons with albinism were also healers, and some modern doctors also served as traditional healers. 85. The Independent Expert notes the need to better monitor and oversee the work carried out in this sector through collaboration with healers’ associations to ensure that threatening activities are reported and that there is oversight over all healers, beginning with self-regulation, as suggested by the Traditional Healers Organization, or under a licence regime akin to that of other professionals offering a public health service who must be regulated to protect the public. 86. Much like traditional healers, the proliferation of religious actors in the country also includes charlatans and dangerous personalities who have manipulated their followers into engaging in ritual killings and attacks. The principal offender in the case of Thandazile Mpunzi37 was a church leader, of the Zion Church, with hundreds of congregants. He was also a traditional healer who promised R25,000 to three young men for the body parts of the victim. Church leaders who make false claims and lead their congregants astray have also perpetuated dangerous myths about persons with albinism. It is important that selfregulation be promoted for all faith-based leaders, whether traditional, hierarchical or independent, for more effective oversight of the services they offer to the public. As churches are required to register as not-for-profit organizations, penalties should be meted out, including revocation of not-for-profit status, public warnings, and prosecutions, among other measures, to protect the public from leaders who are a threat to congregants, and to vulnerable groups, including persons with albinism. (j) Gender-based violence and infanticide 87. South Africa has a widespread issue of sexual and gender-based violence, with more than 40,000 cases of rape reported every year, and femicide rates five times higher than the 36 37 16 “South Africa’s health: traditional healers in South Africa: a parallel health-care system”, available from www.bmj.com/content/310/6988/1182.abstract. See the case files of L. v. Mandla Lucky Mabuza and Lindokhuhle Sisifo Khumalo, S. v. Siyabonga Sikhulile Gwala and S. v. Bhekukufa Lindeni Gumede regarding the convictions of the perpetrators.