| 28. | A body applying to be recognised as a professional body by SAQA will: |
| a. | be a legally constituted entity, either: |
| i. | a statutory professional body established through an Act of Parliament; or |
| ii. | a non-statutory professional body registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission as a non-profit company (NPC) or with the Department of Social Development as a non-profit organisation (NPO). This entity must not be registered as a profit-making company; |
| b. | be governed either by a statute, charter or a constitution and be compliant with, and adhere to, good corporate governance practices, whichever is applicable; |
| c. | have a transformation policy that guides the constitution of the Board, staff and membership. Furthermore, the professional body must indicate activities that ensure representation of the demographics of the country and support transformation, and if there is no transformation, an explanation must be provided; |
[Clause 28(c) substituted by section 2(c) of Notice No. 1054, GG 43764, dated 2 October 2020]
| d. | have the necessary human resources capacity to undertake its function, which is separate from the Board, except for executive members. Professional bodies may share capacities between themselves with regards to the day to day management of the affairs of the professional bodies; |
[Clause 28(d) substituted by section 2(c) of Notice No. 1054, GG 43764, dated 2 October 2020]
| e. | have access to adequate premises and facilities to undertake its functions; |
| f. | have the necessary financial resources to undertake its functions and be sustainable; |
| g. | provide audited three-year financial statements or independently reviewed three-year financial statements; |
| h. | apply fair, non-exclusionary practices in the awarding of its designations; |
| i. | have policy and criteria: |
| i. | to develop, award, monitor and revoke its professional designations in terms of its own rules, legislation and/or international conventions; |
| ii. | on RPL to award designations for members who do not have the required underlying qualifications; |
| j. | submit to SAQA a list of all their designated members as per the SAQA requirements. Professional bodies must: |
| i. | have a database of individual members; |
| ii. | clearly define membership in terms of designated and non-designated members; |
| k. | submit a list of designated members, in a form acceptable to SAQA, for uploading to the National Learners’ Records Database (NLRD); |
| l. | make career related information available to the public; and |
| m. | publish a code of conduct and operate a mechanism for reporting and investigating members who have allegedly contravened the code, and protect the public interest in relation to services provided by its members and the associated risks. |
| 29. | A prospective professional body will only apply for recognition, by SAQA, if it is has at least one designation to support its application for recognition. |
| 30. | From time to time, SAQA will prepare and apply quality standards relevant to Clauses 28-29 to support the recognition, and re-recognition, of professional bodies. |
