SASSH Hand

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Constitution

1.	Name

	The name of the Society shall be The South African Society for Surgery of the Hand, thereinafter called The Society. The Society shall be a Group within the South African Medical Association, an association incorporated under Section 21 of the Companies Act, 1973, registered No. 05/00136/08.

2.	Objects of the Society

	2.1.	To promote and advance the study and practice of Surgery of the Hand in all its aspects
	2.2.	To associate with Medical Schools and Surgical Teaching Units to encourage the teaching of modern principles of Hand Surgery
	2.3.	To develop and encourage local Hand Clubs in all regions and major centres
	2.4.	To represent and further the interests of Hand Surgery and to do all such other things as are incidental to or conducive of the above objects.

3.	Membership

	The following are the categories of membership:
	3.1.	Full Members (voting) These shall be persons who are duly registered as specialists in South Africa and do more than 80% hand surgery in practice
	3.2.	Members (voting) These shall be persons who are duly registered as specialists in South Africa
	3.3.	Associate Members (non-voting) These shall be surgeons in training and other duly registered medical practitioners
	3.4.	Affiliated Members (non-voting) These shall be occupational therapists and physiotherapists registered as members with their professional bodies and with a special interest in the subject of Hand Surgery. Affiliated members will not be extraordinary members of the Medical Association. These members possess all the rights and privileged of Full Members, except the right to vote at General Meetings and the right to be elected as members of any Committee of the Society. Such members may however, be co-opted by any Committee for a specific purpose
	3.5.	Corresponding Membership (non-voting) These shall be persons who are eligible for Full-, Associate- or Affiliated Membership in terms of clauses 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 but who are resident outside the Republic of South Africa. These members shall enjoy the same status as Affiliated Members as provided for in clause 3.3.

	Election to Full-, Associate-, Affiliate- or Corresponding Membership requires:

	(i)	Nomination in writing by a Proposer and Seconder who shall be either members of the Committee of the Regional Hand Clubs (sub-groups of the Society) or members of the Executive Committee of the Society
	(ii)	Approval by the Executive Committee of the Society

	3.6.	Honorary Members (non-voting) Honorary Membership is an honour that may be bestowed on the distinguished by the Executive Committee of the Society, provided that such election complies with Articles 7-12 and By-law 14,9 of the Articles and By-laws of The South African Medical Association, which stipulates the qualifications and procedure for admission to Extraordinary Membership of The South African Medical Association.
	3.7.	Emeritus Members Emeritus membership will be offered to all categories of members who attain the age of 65 years. The voting status of a member remains unchanged when Emeritus membership is granted.
	3.8.	The activities of the Society shall be suspended if at any time its membership shall be less than 11 (eleven) Full Members or Members.

4.	Office Bearers

	4.1.	The Executive Committee of the Society shall consist of the following:
		4.1.1.	President who shall be ipso facto Chairman of the Executive Committee unless the Committee decides to select another member as Chairman for any reason whatsoever
		4.1.2.	President-Elect and/or Past-President
		4.1.3.	Four voting additional members
	4.2.	The President shall hold office for two years
	4.3.	The President-Elect shall be chosen by ballot and should serve on the Executive Committee for at least a full term of two years as elected member. This election will take place biennially at the annual general meeting of the Society
	4.4.	The Immediate Past-President shall serve on the Executive Committee for a further two years after his two years as President
	4.5.	The other four voting members shall be chosen by ballot and shall serve on the Executive Committee for a period of two years
	4.6.	The elections for President-Elect and the four Committee members shall take place on alternate years The Secretary of the Society shall be the Electoral Officer and shall advise members of the vacancies on the Executive Committee. He shall call for nominations duly proposed and seconded and accepted by candidates, these to be in his hand eight weeks before the Annual General Meeting. Voting for the President-Elect and for the members of the Executive Committee shall be by postal ballot. Postal votes shall be sent out four weeks before the Annual General Meeting and should be returned to the Electoral Officer not later than seven days before the Annual General Meeting. Counting of the votes shall take place at the Annual General Meeting by two scrutineers appointed by the Executive Committee.
	4.7.	At its first meeting after election, the Executive Committee shall select from amongst its members a Chairman (unless the President acts as Chairman) and a Honorary Secretary/Treasurer (previously and thereafter referred to as the Secretary)
	4.8.	The Executive Committee shall have the power to co-opt additional members, voting powers to be at the discretion of the Committee. A co-opted member may be selected as the Honorary Secretary/Treasurer
	4.9.	Only fully paid-up members shall be entitled to vote, nominate, propose, second or stand for nomination as office bearer of The Society
	4.10.	Only original ballot papers and nomination papers received on or before the stipulated closing date will be accepted

5.	Meetings

	5.1.	A General Meeting and a Congress shall be held annually. This should preferably be held at the time of an Orthopaedic, Plastic Surgical- or Biennial Medical Congress of The South African Medical Association, when suitable
	5.2.	A minimum of one Executive Committee Meeting shall be held each year plus additional meetings as the President-in-Executive Committee may decide
	5.3.	A quorum at any meeting of the Executive Committee shall consist of four members
	5.4.	Special General Meetings can be called by written application of ten members, including Associate Members. Such meetings can be called providing a period of fourteen days' notice is given. The Agenda must be submitted to all members and the subject matter limited to the points mentioned in the Agenda
	5.5.	Regional Hand Club Meetings will be arranged by their local Committees
	5.6.	The rules contained in "Robert's Rules of Order Revised" shall govern the meetings of the Society, provided that it is not in direct conflict with the Articles, By-laws, Rules and Policy of The South African Medical Association

6.	Administration

	6.1.	The Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Society, shall keep a record of all transactions, shall arrange the Agenda for the Annual General Meeting, keep record of all the meetings and activities of the Society and shall keep a record of all members
	6.2.	The Secretary shall also receive all monies due to the Society and shall operate all accounts of the Society
	6.3.	The Executive Committee shall appoint a historian

7.	Action

	The Society may take such action that may be deemed necessary in all matters affecting the interests of its members providing that The South African Medical Association as a whole be not involved or pledged to any action, and that any action contemplated by the Society be in conformity with the policy of The South African Medical Association

8.	Subscriptions

	Full Members and Members shall pay an entrance fee and an annual subscription, the amounts of these to be decided at the Annual General Meeting. It shall be competent from year to year to alter subscription by a majority vote at the AGM of the Society, after members have received one month's notice of such a proposed change. Corresponding-, Associate- and Affiliate Members shall pay an annual subscription- but no entrance fee. There is no entrance fee for Honorary Members and neither Honorary- nor Emeritus Members shall pay the annual subscription. Annual subscriptions shall be payable to the Secretary by no later than the AGM; the Secretary shall notify members in arrears of subscriptions.

9.	Annul Report

	The Secretary shall submit an Annual Report and a Financial Statement to the Annual General Meeting of the Society. Copies of these plus a list of the Office Bearers and all members of the Society shall be sent to the Secretary-General of The South African Medical Association within thirty days of the Annual General Meeting.

10.	Termination of Membership

	Every member shall remain a member until his membership may be terminated by either:
		10.1.	His resignation in writing
		10.2.	Or a two-thirds majority decision of the Executive Committee
		10.3.	Membership may be terminated if a member is in arrears of his annual subscription for longer than 2 years

11.	Amendments to the Constitution

	Alterations to this Constitution shall be circulated to members at least one month before the Annual General Meeting and shall be ratified at the Annual General Meeting by a two-thirds majority as shown by a show of hands. Any amendment to the Constitution of the Society shall be approved by the Federal Council of The South African Medical Association before becoming operative.