ICSSA - Constitution

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1. Name

1.1. The Society shall be called the Infection Control Society of Southern Africa (“ICSSA”), hereafter called the “Society”.

2. Liabilities

2.1. The Society is a body corporate and is vested with all the powers and obligations required for achieving its objectives

2.2. No member of the Society shall by virtue of his / her membership have any claim to the assets of the Society

2.3. No member of the Society and no member of the Board of the Society shall be liable for fulfilling any obligation or for settling any debts incurred by the Society

3. Language and fiscal year

3.1. The official language of the Society shall be English.

3.2. The fiscal year shall be March to February (Jan to Dec)

4. Purpose and objectives

4.1. The purpose of the Society is to undertake the business of ICSSA of promoting the development and exchange of knowledge, information and ideas in support of the prevention and control of hospital and community associated infections

4.2. The objectives of the Society shall be:

4.2.1. Education and training of Practitioners in Infection Control

4.2.2. Development and standardization of infection prevention and control curricula and practice through out the region.

4.2.3. Information dissemination by way of publication, networking, congresses and scientific meetings.

4.2.4. Accreditation of Practitioners in Infection Control

4.2.5. Encouraging multidisciplinary and inter-sectorial participation in infection prevention and control.

4.2.6. Research.

4.2.7. To function as a consultative body in all infection control matters.

4.2.8. Acknowledge and support the different needs within the regions.

4.2.9. To establish links with international organizations with similar objectives.

5. Membership and funding

5.1. Membership
Members of the Society shall consist of Honorary, Ordinary (Full) and Associate members.
5.1.1. Honorary membership. Any member of the Society , seconded by two ordinary members, may nominate a person or persons for election as honorary members on the grounds of significant national or international contribution to infection control. The Board shall consider such nominations. Honorary membership is retained for life and whilst honorary members will not be eligible for office, they may assist in policy development and other relevant matters as deemed appropriate by the Board. They shall not be required to pay membership fees.

5.1.2. Ordinary membership of the Society will be granted to medical practitioners, nurses, medical scientists, medical technologists, pharmacists and students; and practitioners in any other field who have made a contribution to the discipline of infectious diseases, infection prevention and control, microbiology or virology and who are registered with the South African Medical and Dental Council or other equivalent bodies (if appropriate). Such members will pay an annual membership fee and will be eligible for election.

5.1.3. Associate membership is offered to relevant interested parties such as members of the pharmaceutical industry involved with infection prevention and control, organizations and institutions


5.2. All members of the Society will have access to all communications and publications emanating from the Society as well as the Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of Southern Africa

5.3. Ordinary members will be granted voting privileges and eligibility for election to the ICSSA Board and Executive Committee.

5.4. Membership of the Society is dependant on the payment of a membership fee, as deemed appropriate by the Board. Ordinary and Associate membership will be dependent on an annual subscription paid to the secretariat of the Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of South Africa, on behalf of ICSSA as agreed with FIDSSA.

5.5. All income accruing to the Society will be received by the Secretary / Treasurer of the Federation. The Federation will then allocate funds to the Society after deductions for administration (Federation constitution, Article 8) as agreed with the Society.

6. Regional Chapters

6.1. Regions within the country will be encouraged by the Society to form local infection control chapters. The function of such chapters will be to further the aims and objectives of the Society in accordance with the needs of that particular region. This will be done by means of workshops, educational seminars, meetings, and whatever other means the chapters feel appropriate.

6.2. The chapters are / will be autonomous with respect to the election of their committees and management structures.

6.3. Chapters may conduct workshops, meetings or seminars independently, the scientific contents of which will be decided by the Chapter.

6.4. The chapters may raise funds for local events in whatever manner they see fit providing the process does not conflict with the interests of the Society or the Federation.

6.5. The manner in which the Chapters manage their internal finances shall be determined by each chapter according to its needs and resources.

6.6. The Chapters may approach the Society for financial support if necessary. The Chapters will submit an application in writing to the Board of the Society . The Society will review the application and dispense funds according to the merit of the application. If chapters are provided with financial support from the Society , the chapters will be required to provide proof of expenditure by the Chapter within the fiscal year.

7. Officers and Transaction of Business

7.1. The Board

7.2. The Board will consist of a representative from each established chapter / region within ICSSA.
• Western Cape
  
• Eastern Cape
  
• Northern Cape
  
• Kwazulu-Natal
  
• Free State
  
• Gauteng
  
  1. Johannesburg
  2. Pretoria
  
• Mpumalanga
  
• Limpopo
  
• Namibia
  
• Botswana
  
• Zimbabwe
  

In areas where no Chapter exists, the Board will encourage the formation of local infection control chapters

7.2.1. The Board shall have supervision, control and direction of all affairs of ICSSA.
7.2.2. The Board may co-opt representatives as required.
7.2.3. No board member shall receive remuneration for services to the Society
7.2.4. Sub-committees

7.2.4.1.The board may form sub-committees for specific tasks relevant to its aims and objectives. These sub-committees shall be chaired by a member of the Board. The sub-committees shall be given a task and will submit a report within a given timeframe. The completed reports shall be circulated to Board Members for comment with a specified time , further to which the Executive will consider modifications and validate the report which will be presented at the AGM.

7.2.4.2.Reports from the Subcommittees shall be published in the Southern African Journal of Epidemiology and Infection

7.3. The Executive Committee 7.3.1. The Executive will consist of a President, and immediate past president, and an administrative officer who will perform whatever secretarial and financial duties are needed. The Executive will have no voting rights on the Board, except in the event of a deadlock (section 8.3).

7.3.2. Duties of the Executive

7.3.2.1.The President shall preside at committee meetings and perform other duties pertaining to the office of chair.

7.3.2.2.The Immediate Past President shall assume the duties of the president in his/her absence and assume such duties as directed by the President.

7.3.2.3.The administrative officer shall take, check, correct and distribute the minutes. The administrative officer is required to take responsibility for the election procedures and the membership lists. The administrative officer shall be responsible for accurate minutes of the meetings and an account of all monies received and dispersed. This will be done in conjunction with the Treasurer of the Federation. The Federation treasurer will prepare an annual, properly audited financial statement which shall be presented at the AGM (Federation constitution, Article 6.1.7).

8. Election and terms of office

8.1. The Board

8.1.1. Each chapter / region will nominate a primary (and ideally also a secondary) candidate to represent that chapter on the board. Once the board has been elected, they will elect from amongst themselves the three members of the executive committee. The chapters / regions from which the executive committee members come will then be represented by their secondary candidate. This is to ensure that the board is at all times represented by as many of the chapters / regions as possible.

8.1.2. The board members shall be appointed/elected for a two (2) year term and will be eligible for single re-appointment/re-election.

8.1.3. In the event of the death or resignation of a board member the board shall approach the relevant chapter / region to nominate a successor for the remainder of the term of office

8.1.4. In the event that any member of the Board is not fulfilling the goals and objectives of ICSSA, the chapter / region will be asked to reconsider their choice of representative


8.2. The Executive

8.2.1. Members of the Executive shall be appointed for a four (4) year term, and shall serve a maximum of two (2) terms.

8.2.2. The terms of office of the members of the Executive shall ideally be staggered so that at any one election only one or two new members of the Executive are inducted; this is done in order to maintain a degree of continuity within the Executive.

8.2.3. The board shall appoint a president elect, who will be inducted at the next Business meeting of the Society . The president elect shall have no functions / responsibilities prior to his/her induction.

8.2.4. Nominations for the president and other officers shall be made by the members of the board on nomination forms and shall reach the administrative officer four (4) weeks before the board meeting

8.2.5. Each nomination shall bear the signature of at least two members of the Board as Proposer and Seconder and accepted in writing by the nominee

8.2.6. Election of officers to the Society ’s Executive Committee shall be by majority vote of the members of the board present at the biennial meeting; provided however, that if the meeting is not held the officers whose terms would have expired will continue in office until the next meeting

8.2.7. Any member of the Executive Committee who is not fulfilling his/her functions and the goals and objectives of ICSSA may be asked to reconsider his/her representation on the Board.



8.3. A motion will be carried by a 51% simple majority vote. In exceptional circumstances of a deadlock the President will have a casting vote

9. Congress

A biennial scientific meeting of the Society shall be held in conjunction with other Societies as constituted in Article 7 (Federation Constitution)


10. Meetings of the Society

10.1. A general meeting of the Society shall be held every two years in conjunction with the Congress. The election of the board shall occur at this meeting. A notice of the biennial meeting shall be sent to all members of the Society at least 2 months prior to the meeting. These notices will be sent by the Federation secretariat.

10.2. The Society may choose to hold general meetings every other year (i.e. in years where there is no scientific meeting). The venue of these meetings shall be chosen by the Board, with a view to making these meetings as accessible as possible to members of the Society.

10.3. The Board shall meet at least once a year, one of which will be at the biennial scientific meeting held every second year. Board members must be notified by the administrative officer at least two months in advance of any planned meetings of the Board.

11. Journal

The Journal of the Society will merge with the official Journal of the Federation (Southern African Journal of Epidemiology and Infection) as constituted in Article 9 of the Federation Constitution


12. Dissolution and Distribution of Assets

12.1. Dissolution:
ICSSA may dissolve by written vote in favour of dissolution from at least two thirds of all members as defined in section 5.1. Any proposed dissolution shall be mailed at least sixty (60) days prior to voting.

12.2. On dissolution of ICSSA any remaining assets shall be distributed in whatever manner the members deemed appropriate such as donation to other organizations with similar aims and objectives.

12.3. The company will legally cease to trade under the name of “ICSSA”.