The HPCSA’s new Council has begun its 2025–2030 term. Meet the people leading the regulator, and find out what their focus on engagement, communication and trust means for you.
A new leadership team and a new chapter for the health professions
A new chapter began at the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) on 12 December 2025, when the newly constituted Council was inaugurated for the 2025–2030 term of office.
At its inaugural sitting, Council elected Professor Wezile Chitha as President of Council and Professor Sindisiwe Shangase as Vice-President. Together with the newly constituted Council, they will provide strategic leadership to the HPCSA over the next five years.
For practitioners, a new Council is about more than a change of faces around the Council table. It is an opportunity to get to know the people entrusted with leading the regulator, understand their vision for the organisation, and consider what this new chapter means for the health professions.
At the centre of Council’s work remains the HPCSA’s fundamental mandate: to protect the public and guide the health professions.
As the new Council begins its term, it intends to strengthen the relationship between the regulator and its stakeholders by committing to meaningful engagement, better communication, responsiveness and constructive relationships with the professions.
But who are the people who will lead the HPCSA through this new chapter — and what do they want the next five years to look like?
President
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Professor Wezile Chitha brings extensive experience in medicine, health economics, public health, health systems, higher education and strategic planning. His professional background in health policy and academic leadership brings a broad perspective to a regulator whose work reaches across multiple health professions and the wider healthcare environment.
As President, Professor Chitha provides leadership to Council as it fulfils its responsibility to guide the HPCSA in delivering on its statutory mandate of protecting the public and guiding the professions. |
Vice-President
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Professor Sindisiwe Shangase brings extensive academic, clinical and professional experience in dentistry and oral health sciences. Her background includes teaching, research, patient care and academic leadership.
As Vice-President, Professor Shangase will work alongside the President and Council in providing leadership and oversight in their term. The combination of clinical, academic and professional experience represented by the Council’s leadership provides a strong foundation for engaging with the diverse range of professions regulated by the HPCSA. |
Council
The new Council brings together a broad range of experience and perspectives. Its composition includes representatives designated by the HPCSA’s Professional Boards, community representatives, representatives from Universities South Africa, the National Department of Health, the South African Military Health Service and a person versed in law.
- Professor Wezile Chitha — President of the HPCSA
- Professor Sindisiwe Shangase — Vice-President of the HPCSA
- Dr Ahmed Bham — Emergency Care Board
- Professor Risenga Chauke — Universities South Africa
- Mr Bheki Dladla — Community Representative
- Professor Lionel Green-Thompson — Universities South Africa
- Dr Moshekoa Ledwaba — Community Representative
- Dr Sethole Legoabe — Community Representative
- Ms Ntombizine Madyibi — Community Representative
- Ms Ramatsobane Maleka — Medical and Dental Professions Board
- Lt-Gen Maphaha — South African Military Health Service
- Mr Bennedict Mashego — Community Representative
- Rev. Thabiso Mashiloane — Community Representative
- Dr Brenda Mkhize — Professional Board for Medical Technology
- Dr Kubendhren Moodley — Professional Board for Medical Technology
- Ms Mashudu Mukoma — Professional Board for Environmental Health Practitioners
- Professor Deshini Naidoo — Professional Board for Occupational Therapy, Medical Orthotics, Prosthetics and Arts Therapy
- Mr Thapelo Nambo — Community Representative
- Dr Relebogile Ncha — National Department of Health Representative
- Professor Evette van Niekerk — Professional Board for Dietetics and Nutrition
- Adv. Jacob Ntimutse — Community Representative
- Professor Mokgobadibe Ntsiea — Professional Board for Physiotherapy
- Podiatry and Biokinetics, Professor Dorcas Prakaschandra — Professional Board for Radiography and Clinical Technology
- Adv. Motlatjo Ralefatane — Person versed in law
- Professor Lebogang Ramma — Professional Board for Speech, Language and Hearing Professions
- Professor Joseph Rantloane — Medical and Dental Professions Board
- Professor Hlupheka Sithole — Professional Board for Optometry and Dispensing Opticians
- Ms Abongile Sobuwa — Community Representative
- Dr Pumla Sodo — Professional Board for Dental Therapy and Oral Hygiene
- Professor Ramodungoane Tabane — Professional Board for Psychology
- Professor Zukiswa Zingela — Universities South Africa
Together, Council brings different professional, academic, community and governance perspectives to the table — reflecting the breadth of the health professions and the diverse stakeholders affected by the work of the HPCSA.
Looking Ahead: A Council with a Vision for Engagement
Over the next five years, Council intends to strengthen the relationship between the HPCSA and the health professionals it regulates, while remaining firmly focused on its responsibility to protect the public and guide the professions.
For practitioners, this broad direction speaks to some very important questions:
Will the regulator listen?
Will practitioners have meaningful opportunities to engage with Council?
Will communication between the HPCSA and the professions become stronger?
And can the relationship between the regulator and practitioners be built on greater understanding and trust?
These are conversations that the new Council intends to encourage.
A Council that listens
Meaningful engagement begins with listening.
For practitioners, engagement with the HPCSA should provide an opportunity not only to receive information, but also to raise issues, share experiences and contribute to conversations about matters affecting their professions.
Council’s intention to engage directly with its stakeholders will be demonstrated through its programme of stakeholder engagements. The first Council stakeholder engagement under the new Council took place in Limpopo, on 6 October 2026. The engagement provided an opportunity for practitioners and other stakeholders to meet the new Council, share their experiences, raise issues and engage directly with Council members.
It represented an important opportunity for two-way engagement — creating space for practitioners to be heard while also helping Council to better understand the experiences and concerns of the professions it regulates. For a new Council beginning its five-year term, taking the conversation directly to stakeholders is an important first step in building that relationship.
A more accessible and responsive HPCSA
For practitioners, the experience of regulation is often shaped by very practical questions:
Can I find the information I need?
Do I understand what is required of me?
Can I raise an issue and receive a response?
Council intends to strengthen the HPCSA’s responsiveness to its stakeholders and improve how it communicates with practitioners and the wider health sector.
The objective is to support an HPCSA that is accessible, responsive and able to communicate clearly with the people it regulates. This is particularly important in an environment where practitioners must navigate professional registration, continuing professional development, ethical and professional requirements and other regulatory responsibilities.
Strengthening trust and confidence
At the heart of effective regulation is trust.
Practitioners need confidence that Council is responsive, transparent and accountable. The public needs assurance that health professionals are appropriately regulated and that the HPCSA is fulfilling its responsibility to protect them .
Council, therefore has an opportunity to strengthen confidence in the HPCSA through effective governance, meaningful engagement, responsiveness and continued focus on its statutory mandate.
Trust is not built through communication alone. It is built over time through what the Council says, what it does and how stakeholders experience their interactions with it. The next five years provide an opportunity for Council to strengthen that relationship.
Keeping Practitioners Informed
As Council begins its term, practitioners can also expect to hear more regularly from the HPCSA about matters affecting the professions and the work of Council.
The intention is to strengthen communication with practitioners and stakeholders, ensuring that they are kept informed about important developments and opportunities to engage with Council.
This article is the beginning of that conversation.
In the next article, we will take a closer look at Council’s intentions for its five-year term and what these may mean for practitioners and the public.
A New Council. A New Chapter. A Shared Journey.
Council has begun its five-year term at an important time for health professionals in South Africa. For practitioners, this is an opportunity to get to know the people entrusted with leading the HPCSA, understand the broad direction they wish to take and, importantly, participate in the conversation.
The recent stakeholder engagement in Limpopo, on 6 October 2026 was the first opportunities for practitioners to engage directly with Council and contribute to that conversation.
Because effective regulation is not only about rules and processes. It is also about relationships, understanding, communication and trust.
As Council rolls out its 2025–2030 term, there is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the regulator and the professions — through listening, dialogue and constructive engagement, while remaining firmly focused on the HPCSA’s responsibility to protect the public and guide the health professions.
This is a new Council. A new five-year term. And a new opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the regulator and the professions it serves.
Last Updated on 19 October 2026 by HPCSA Corporate Affairs