The leaves of the Porkbush can be eaten and have a sour or tart flavour. It is heavily browsed by game and domestic stock and highly favoured by tortoises. The Porkbush has also been indicated as a soil binder for preventing soil erosion. Traditional uses also include the increasing of breast milk by lactating mothers. The leaves are used to quench thirst, sucking a leaf is used to treat exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke. Crushed leaves can be rubbed on blisters and corns on the feet to provide relief. The leaves are chewed as a treatment for sore throat and mouth infections while the astringent juice is used for soothing ailments of the skin such as pimples, rashes and insect stings. The juice is also used as an antiseptic and as a treatment for sunburn. It is also recorded that a small sprig of Porkbush steamed with a tomato bredie (stew) imparts a delicious flavour. The honey made from the flowers of Porkbush is said to be "unsurpassable in flavour and texture" by one reference (Roberts 1990).

The Porkbush and Climate Change
Recent research has shown the Porkbush to be an excellent 'carbon sponge' as it has the ability to sequestrate (absorb) free carbon from the atmosphere which is used to make plant tissue. Carbon is one of the major greenhouse gases which are responsible for the warming of the earth's atmosphere; it is produced in excess by burning of fossil fuels. Currently, humans are producing atmospheric carbon faster than the environment can absorb it, causing a deficit which remains in the atmosphere and causes heat from the sun to be trapped instead of being radiated back out into space. The porkbush has the unique ability to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than most other plants and it does so particularly efficiently. A stand of Porkbush in an arid or semi-arid region has the ability to remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as an equal amount of deciduous forest.

How does it manage this? The Porkbush has the ability to make use of two different photosynthetic pathways, when conditions are favourable it manufactures its food to sustain growth by using the same method (pathway) that most other plants use. However, when conditions are not favourable and other plants have to shutdown and wait for sufficient rain, the porkbush can switch to a different pathway called CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) whereby it can continue to grow and slurp up huge amounts of carbon despite adverse climatic conditions. This allows the plant to excel in the arid or semi-arid conditions that it is native to.

Further to its carbon habit, the large spreading shrub covers and shades the soil from the harmful rays of the sun creating a favourable environment under the bush for insects and other wildlife to inhabit, while the dead organic matter which accumulates under the bushes has an enriching effect on the soil. This further enrichment of the soil improves its water-holding capacity which further benefits the porkbush as well as other plants and animals including micro-organisms, which occur in the area.

Projects now active in the areas where the Porkbush occurs seek to utilize it as a rehabilitation aid to restore over-utilized natural habitats to their formerly productive state. At the same time these sites act as carbon sinks (kind of carbon bank) where carbon can be collected and used where it belongs and is productive to both humans and the environment. Potential earnings through carbon credits could be translated into social upliftment in the areas where this plant is being utilized.