The views of a sample of Xhosa-speaking psychiatric nurses on
traditional healing and its role in mental health care in South Africa are
examined. We explore how the nurses manage apparent incompatibilities
between their practice of Western psychiatry and the use of traditional
healing services. Under normal circumstances this incongruity appears
unproblematic for the respondents; these systems co-exist pluralistically in
their experience.However, when questioned about the possible cooperation
of these systems, respondents give views inconsistent with their pluralistic
world-view and promote psychiatry’s hegemony. Implications for healthcare
planning are discussed.