Schools experienced various challenges, and such challenges put the South African youth at risk of self-destructive behavior. The behavior that puts young people at risk, such as substance abuse and lack of educational life skills to mention a few, add to their vulnerability. The knowledge which has been historically repressed and marginalized needs to be given a rightful place in the development and promotion of indigenous knowledge in life skills education of South Africa. Data were collected and qualitatively framed within an interpretivist philosophical view using observation and focus group interviews from purposefully selected key informants who are experts in the area of indigenous knowledge and life skills education.

This chapter considers VhaVenda indigenous knowledge about foods, its production, and its consumption as a way of exploring indigenous-based solutions to food insecurity. External and internal factors contributing to food insecurity are discussed, beginning with an overview of the current state of food insecurity globally and then locally. Subsequently, the chapter discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security levels in both urban and rural settings within a single population. Specific attention is given to the rural setting of Thohoyandou Venda, drawing attention to its challenges and solution-possibilities with particular focus on subsistence farming and home gardening as aspects in VhaVenda culture. Finally, the authors provide a catalogue of indigenous food sources and agricultural practices thereby exploring local knowledge as a possible mechanism to combat food insecurity in the contemporary period.

This chapter interrogates the current teaching and learning strategies in South African higher institutions of learning in relation to the negligence of cultural aspects. For many years now, the general population in South Africa agitated for the amendment or annulment of the current education system as a means of restoring the African norms and values. The suspension and/or expulsion of some African students from schools due to their adherence to African values is a vivid example of how the education system undermines African cultures and traditions. The chapter deliberated on story telling as one of the methods that is relevant for Indigenous Knowledge Systems. On the central argument of the chapter the authors conversed on colonialisation and its impact on education in South Africa. OBE and the revised national curriculum statement and the crises in South African education system are discussed. The chapter ends by interrogating the possibility of using African Languages in the school curriculum.

This chapter explores the possibility of enhancing literacy skills using indigenous games played by Vhavenda children at foundation phase. It critically analyses different types of Vhavenda games played by children which are ndode, mufuvha, muravharavha, and tsetsetse or trere-tsere to solicit the possibility to enhance literacy skills. Methodologically, this study aligns with the use of qualitative approach where researchers collected data using interviews and observations. The focus is on Vhavenda indigenous games that can be adopted by other cultures to enhance learning inside and outside the classroom environment. The results found that indigenous games develop several literacy skills inclusive of school, arithmetic, communication, cultural, emotional, and physical literacies which are very important for total development of children. Games are enjoyable and interesting and as such make learning fun.

Before now, historiographies and archival accounts of African innovations have often been told from mainly a Western and Eurocentric perspective. This chapter aims to expand this argument. It does this through a philosophical appraisal of the trajectory of progression in the traditional architectural designs and building technologies in the pre-colonial Vhavenda communities. This means exploring the scientific bases behind the progression of the different shapes and forms of the architectural designs and the building technology in the traditional Vhavenda communities. What counts is not whether these progressions have followed a Eurocentric notion of science, but rather unearthing the local rationale within which they are justified, and are hence ought to be regarded as “science.” Following these objectives, two questions are very important: (1) What are the major changes in the traditional Vhavenda architectural designs and building infrastructures? (2) How are these changes justified within the Vhavenda indigenous knowledge system?