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DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA
CONSTITUTION
CONSTITUTION OF DENTASA - DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA
DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA.
1. 1. DEFINITION.
Name: The name of the Association shall be THE DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA, here in after referred to as DENTASA.
2. 2. HEADQUARTERS.
Headquarters of the Association could be in any centre, as decided by the Association from time to time.
3. 3. OBJECTIVES.
The objects of the Association shall be:
I. I. To do anything for the benefit of the Community of Southern Africa with no intentions of gain or profit for the Association or individual members.
II. II. To exercise professional supervision over the members of the Association and to secure for them such definite status and recognition as may assist them in discharging their duties.
III. III. To hold meetings and conferences for the delivery of lectures, for the reading of papers and for the discussion of scientific and technical matters and other subjects of general interest.
IV. IV. To collate and publish any information of service or interest to members and / or interest to the public at large.
V. V. To form local branches of the Association wherever there shall be necessary by virtue of numbers as laid down by this constitution.
VI. VI. To assist in the training and examination of Dental Therapists.
VII. VII. To compile and revise from time to time lists of members and, to issue by means of a newsletter or other such organ, copies of such lists together with copies of lectures and professional transaction.
VIII. VIII. To co-operate with Kindred South African or International organizations and other bodies in matters of mutual interest.
4. 4. MEMBERSHIP.
The Association shall consist of:
I. I. Qualified Dental Therapists and Dental Therapy Students, second year up to the final year of study. All Dental Therapists registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
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II. II. Associates.
Associate membership is open to first year Dental Therapy Students and other qualified Dental Therapists who have obtained other professional qualifications other than Dental Therapy.
III. Termination of Membership.
a) a) Any member who fails to pay his / her subscription by 31st March
in any year, shall ipso facto cease to be a member. Such a
member shall receive due warning not later than 30 days prior to
the 31st March.
b) b) Any second or final year student who is expelled by his College, University or any Institution, or a Dental Therapist, whose name has been removed from the register of Health Professions Council of South Africa, shall cease to be a member.
c) c) Any member who has had his name removed from the register held by the Health Professions Council of South Africa due to misconduct shall cease to be a member.
d) d) Any member who attempts to use the society as a means of personal monetary gain, or attempting to misappropriate the funds or assets of the Association, shall have his / her membership terminated.
e) e) Any member who is convicted of a criminal offence may, at the discretion of Association, have his / her membership terminated.
f) f) Any member whose membership was withdrawn due to 4 III a, and having the desire to restore his / her membership, shall make an application for restoration of his / her membership and pay the prescribed restoration fee.
g) g) Any member whose membership was withdrawn due to 4 III c, d & e shall have the right of appeal.
Such appeal must be made in writing within 30 days of the notification of the loss of membership and must contain reasons justifying the appeal. In such an event the Executive Committee shall be consulted before a final decision of the Branch Committee is made. The decision of the Association shall be final.
h) h) Membership shall give one month’s written notice of termination of membership, subscriptions being due until the end of the current financial year.
i) i) On termination of membership, the right to display the Association’s emblem in any form shall, together with all privileges of the Association be forfeited.
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j) j) On termination of membership no pro-rata refund of subscription shall be paid to any ex-member.
5. 5. MANAGEMENT.
I. I. Management and Control.
Management and control of the Association shall be entrusted to Branch Committee as shall be formed by Branches’ representatives. Where the Chairman and Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Association are representatives of any Branch, the respective Branches may nominate more members to be Branch Committee members.
II. II. Frequency of Meetings.
The Branch Committee shall meet not less than once in any calendar year.
III. III. Formation of the Executive Committee.
The Branch Committee shall be empowered to form an Executive Committee, which shall conduct immediate affairs of the Association. The Executive Committee shall be responsible to Branch Committees. All matters of national importance to members of the Association shall be referred to the Association.
6. 6. OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.
I. I. The Officers of the Association shall consist of:
President. Chairpersons of Branch Committees.
Vice President. Vice Chairpersons of Branch Committees.
Treasurer. Branch Committee members.
Executive Secretary.
II. II. President.
The Executive Committee shall be empowered to elect a President of the Association. The President so appointed shall hold office for three (3) years and is eligible for re-election
Vice President.
The Executive Committee shall be empowered to elect a Vice President of the Association. The Vice President so appointed shall hold office for one year (1) only and shall be eligible for re-election
Chairman of Branch Committees.
The Branch Committee shall elect from amongst its members, a Chairman who shall hold office for three (3) years. Such a Chairman shall be eligible for re-election. The Chairman shall have a casting vote only.
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III. III. Vice Chairman of Branch Committees.
The Branch Committee shall elect from amongst its members, a Vice Chairman for a period of three (3) years.
IV. IV. Executive Secretary.
The Executive Committee shall elect an Executive Secretary whose term of office shall be for three (3) years and is eligible for re-election.
V. V. Treasurer.
The Executive Committee shall appoint a Treasurer as required.
VI. VI. Committee Members.
Branches shall be represented on Branch Committees as detailed in 5 I.
VII. VII. Co-opted Members.
The Executive Committee shall have the power to co-opt as members to the Committee, any person or persons deemed to have special knowledge of any subject under discussion. Such co-opted members shall not number more than three (3) at any one meeting of the Executive Committee, and shall not possess a vote.
VIII. VIII. Retirement of Officers.
Notwithstanding the above an Officer may retire in order to become available for any other office. If elected to another office he / she shall hold that office for the un-expired portion of the relevant term for which he / she was originally elected and shall then be available for re-election.
7. 7. DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
a) a) President.
I. I. Shall act as a Chairperson at any General meetings and the Annual General meeting.
II. II. Shall give a casting vote in any issue under discussion.
III. III. Shall chair the meetings of the Executive Committee.
IV. IV. Shall convene extra-ordinary meetings.
V. V. Shall represent the Association at all events nationally and internationally.
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b) Vice – President.
Shall assist the President and act during his / her absence.
c) c) Chairperson of Branch Committees.
The Chairman of Branch Committees shall:
I. I. Chair all meetings of the Branch Committees.
II. II. Represent the Association nationally and locally on behalf of the President, when requested by the President.
III. III. Convene extraordinary Branch Committee meetings.
d) d) Vice – Chairperson.
Shall assist the Chairperson and act in his / her absence.
e) Executive Secretary.
I. I. Shall organize official matters of the Association.
II. II. Shall convene all meetings of the Executive Committee and all general meetings except extra-ordinary meetings, upon instruction from the President.
III. III. Shall keep the register and minutes of all meetings.
IV. IV. Shall read minutes at meetings.
V. V. Shall write minutes at meetings.
f) Treasurer.
I. I. Shall keep record of all monies of the Association.
II. II. Shall, with the Secretary, and / or President authorize use of any amount of money.
III. III. Shall furnish members and officials with the financial statements.
8. 8. CONDUCT OF MEETINGS.
I. General Meetings.
a) a) Quorum.
i) i) A quorum shall be made by 40% of members.
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ii) ii) In the event of a lack of quorum, the President shall convene a meeting within two (2) months and all members present shall constitute a quorum.
b) b) Frequency.
The frequency of general meetings shall be decided by the Executive Committee.
c) c) Voting.
i) i) Each member shall be entitled to one vote with the President having a casting vote.
ii) ii) All matters shall be resolved by a majority vote of members present.
d) d) Notice of meeting.
Due notice of all meetings of the Association shall be given to members.
The notice convening the meeting shall be accompanied by the agenda setting out the business to be dealt with at the meeting.
No subject, which does not appear on the agenda, shall be considered by the Committee, unless the majority of members present agree thereto within the first hour of the first session of the meeting.
e) e) Minutes.
Minutes of all proceedings the Association shall be maintained in a permanently bound book kept for that purpose. Minutes of the previous meeting shall be available to members at least twelve (12) weeks prior to the meeting.
f) f) Annual General Meeting.
i) i) Annual General Meeting of Branches shall be held two (2) months prior to the Associations Annual General Meeting.
ii) ii) The conduct of the meeting shall be as stated above on 8(i) (a), (c), (d), (e).
g) g) The following items shall appear on the agenda.
i) Minutes of the previous meeting.
ii) Matters arising.
iii) iii) Chairman’s or Secretary’s report for the past year.
iv) iv) The financial statement together with the auditor’s report for the past year.
v) v) Election.
vi) vi) General.
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h) h) Annual General Meeting of the Executive Committee shall be held two (2) months after that of the individual branches.
The Agenda shall be the same as above and the Branch Committee shall be given a chance to report on behalf of the branches.
9. FORMATION OF BRANCHES.
Where there are more than ten (10) members within reasonable distance of each other, a branch of the Association may be formed. All applications for the formation of branches must be submitted to the Executive Secretary for the approval by the Executive Committee. The application shall be signed by at least 10 members.
10. CONDUCT OF BRANCHES.
I. I. Control of Branches.
Branches shall be controlled by a Committee, which shall be composed as follows:
a) a) Chairman, who shall have a casting vote.
b) b) Vice Chairman.
c) c) Secretary / Treasurer or a Secretary and a Treasurer.
d) d) Associate members.
e) e) All office bearers shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the branch.
f) f) Office bearers shall hold office as follows:
i) Chairperson – three (3) years.
ii) Secretary / Treasurer or Secretary and Treasurer – one (1) year.
iii) iii) Vice Chairperson – one (1) year.
The office of the Vice Chairperson and Secretary shall not run concurrently with each other. Retiring members could be re-elected.
g) g) Notwithstanding the above, an office bearer may retire in order to become available for election to another office.
h) h) A member elected to the office vacated in (g) above shall only hold office for the un-expired period.
i) i) The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping a true and accurate record of all proceedings of the Branch. The Branch Committee shall be empowered to appoint sub-committees as may be deemed necessary from time to time.
j) j) The Treasurer or Secretary / Treasurer shall be responsible for the monies of the Branch and through his / her Branch Committees responsible to the Executive Committee for the finances of the Branch.
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k) k) Copies of financial statements and minutes of all branch meetings shall be submitted to the Executive Secretary.
l) l) The Branch Secretary shall convene all meetings of the branch except for extra-ordinary meetings.
m) m) The Branch Committee shall be responsible to Executive Committee for the conduct of its affairs.
II. II. Annual General Meeting.
a) i) All Branches shall hold their Annual General Meetings as stated in
8 (i) (a), (b), (c).
ii) The quorum at the Annual General Meeting shall be not less than
30% of the members of the branch. In the event that there is no be a quorum at any General Meeting, such meeting will be adjourned for thirty (30) minutes, after which time the meeting shall be reconvened and the members present considered competent to deal with any business at hand.
b) All nominations shall be done at the meeting.
c) The Chairman shall appoint an Electoral Officer.
III. III. Extra – ordinary General Meeting.
a) a) The Branch Committee may, whenever they deem fit, and shall upon application in writing, signed by at least ten (10) voting members of the Branch, convene an extra – ordinary General Meeting.
Such application made by the members shall express the reason for calling the meeting.
Upon receipt of such a request the Committee shall forthwith proceed to convene an extra – ordinary General Meeting within thirty (30) days.
If the Committee fails to convene the meeting within thirty (30) days of receipt of the application, the members themselves may convene a meeting, and submit a report of all proceedings to Branch Committees.
Thereafter the Branch Committees may terminate the office of such Committee depending upon the seriousness of the matter at hand.
b) b) A quorum at an extra – ordinary Annual General Meeting shall be as stated in 8 (a) (i) and (ii).
11. FINANCE.
I. I. The financial year of the Association shall be from 1st April to 31st March each year and that for the Branches shall be from 1st January to 31st December each year.
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II. II. Signatories.
All cheques shall be signed by the Chairman and the Treasurer or such person or persons as may be authorized by the Branch.
III. III. Monies, which may be kept by Branches.
a) a) All monies paid, by any member of the Association, donations to the Association, Institution donations to the Association and / or monetary Institution contributing interest to any Branch, shall always be the sole property of the Association and therefore controlled by the Branch Committees.
b) b) Branch Committees shall be authorized to retain for expenses one quarter (1/4) of the subscriptions and fees collected each One Hundred Rand (R100) may be retained in Branch funds at the end of a financial tear.
The remainder shall be transferred to the National Treasurer not later than 31st January each year for deposit in the Associations account.
IV. IV. Auditors.
The accounts of the Association, including those of the Branches, shall be audited annually by duly appointed auditors.
The Auditors for the Branches shall be appointed by the Branches Committee, but the auditors need to be office bearers of the Association.
The balance sheets shall there after be published for the information of members.
V. V. Subscriptions.
On election to membership in any category other than co-opted members, President or Vice – President of the Association, an annual subscription, as determined from time to time by the Executive Committee, shall be payable and will fall due on the first day of January.
VI. VI. Refund to Officers.
The Executive Committee of the Association shall when funds permit, attempt to refund all travelling and accommodation expenses of members attending the Association meetings on presentation of acceptable proof of their expenses.
12. 12. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.
I. I. Title.
The official publication of the Association shall be called “THE JOURNAL OF THE DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA”.
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II. II. Editor.
The Executive Committee shall appoint an Editor who shall be accountable to the Committee for all official publications.
III. III. Finance.
It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to keep a true and correct record of the income and expenditure of the journal.
Immediately after the close of the financial year, he / she shall prepare a financial statement setting out income and expenditure under appropriate headings, and submit such statement, together with the books of account, receipt books and paid vouchers to the Auditors appointed for the nearest Branch of the Association.
The audited financial statement shall then be submitted to the Executive committee.
IV. IV. Correspondents.
A Journal correspondent shall be appointed in each centre in which there are active members of the Association who are geographically separated from the centre represented by the Editorial Committee.
The correspondents shall act as Liaison Officers with the Editorial Committee.
13. 13. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
The constitution of the Association is subject to revision from time to time.
Amendments must be proposed, seconded and signed, and must be in the hands of the Executive Secretary at least six (6) weeks prior to the date of the Executive Meeting.
The Executive Secretary shall notify each Branch of the proposals which shall be approved by a two thirds (2/3) majority of the Executive Committee.
14. 14. LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY.
In the event of legal proceedings involving the Association, it shall be represented by the Executive Committee who shall be empowered to take such legal advice as is deemed necessary, and shall notify the Branch Committees within seven (7) days.
15. 15. DISSOLUTION.
The Association or Branch may be dissolved, if at least two thirds (2/3) of the members present and voting at a General Meeting for the purpose of considering such matter, are in favour of the dissolution.
The Branch Committees shall appoint Trustees of a suitable number as may be deemed for the Association or Branch to dispose of the assets.
In the case of the dissolution of a Branch, any assets shall be absorbed by the Association as a whole. In the case of the Association being dissolved any assets shall be distributed by the Trustees as they see fit.
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