Overview

The South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) is constituted of a 25-member strong collective of experienced pharmacy professionals, educators and professionals from other key professions.

Nine (9) members of Council are nominated by the profession, another nine (9) are recommended by Members of Executive Committee (MECs) responsible for health in South Africa’s nine (9) provinces.

Two (2) members of Council are appointed by the Minister of Health following recommendations by universities that are accredited to offer pharmacy education. The Minister also appoints a representative of the Department of Health as well as four (4) members from other sectors of the South African population.

SAPC is an independent statutory council which receives no grants or subsidies from government or any other source, but is wholly funded by the registered members of the profession, namely:

1. Pharmacy students
2. Pharmacist interns
3. Pharmacists
4. Specialist pharmacists
5. Pharmacist's assistants
6. Pharmacy owners
7. Responsible pharmacists, and
8. Providers and assessors.

To enable the public to have access to pharmacists and pharmacist's assistants, who are competent to practise, a register of such persons is necessary.

 In this regard the SAPC therefore has two (2) duties to discharge, e.g. to: 

• ensure that pharmacists and pharmacist's assistants admitted to the registers of Council are competent; and
• remove the names of those pharmacists and pharmacist's assistants who are unfit to practise.

Registration benefits

The maintenance of a register offers various benefits to those whose names appear in it, these benefits include:

• bestowal of professional status to the pharmacy professional which includes the right to practice his/her profession;
• public recognition of the competent practitioner who is thus able to command a reward for his/her services; and
• creditability in the competency of the pharmacy professional.

What do the registration and annual fees cover?

The fees received by SAPC from registered pharmacy professionals are used to cover the costs of:

• running the SAPC; and
• administering the pharmacy profession in terms of registration, maintaining standards of education and training, and standards of professional practice.