Unisa academics to lead Professional Board of Psychology at HPCSA

Unisa Professors Ramodungoane Tabane and Yaseen Ally have been appointed as Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Professional Board for Psychology at the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), respectively. Tabane is the Director of the School of Educational Studies in the College of Education, and Ally is a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology, College of Human Sciences; therefore, they are renowned psychologists with unique specialities. They were appointed by South African Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, and will serve from 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2030.  

In addition to his role, Tabane has also been elected as the Chairperson of the HPCSA’s Council Ethics Committee, a significant role overseeing ethical conduct for health professions in South Africa. This further strengthens his leadership position within the national regulatory framework governing psychological practice in South Africa.

The HPCSA constitutes twelve professional boards, each mandated to regulate a specific health profession in accordance with national standards and the Health Professions Act 56 of 1974. The Professional Board for Psychology holds statutory authority to set and maintain ethical, professional and training standards for the discipline, guide and regulation of the profession to ensure safe, competent and socially responsive practice. Additionally, this strengthens the protection of the public by ensuring that psychological services are delivered ethically and align with national legislation to oversee the registration, compliance, accreditation and professional conduct across all recognised psychology categories.

In their roles, Tabane and Ally will lead regulatory decision-making processes, contribute to the shaping of national mental health policy directives, and support the development of standards that advance the psychology profession in the country. These appointments underscore Unisa’s strategic role in shaping psychology as both a national discipline and a public service. They also extend the university’s influence beyond academia into national regulatory governance, reinforcing health studies as one of the university’s ten catalytic niche areas.

Through their leadership, Unisa’s scholarship, research and training are positioned to translate into ethical and impactful psychological practice, particularly on mental health policy formation, standards of professional training and accreditation, and national discourse on equitable access to psychological services. Moreover, the appointments affirm the stature of Unisa academics not only as educators and researchers, but also as custodians of regulatory quality and protectors of the public interest within South Africa’s mental health landscape.

Their term of office will be guided by a strong commitment to transformative and decolonial attuned psychological practice, and the expansion of fair access to mental health care, particularly for underserved communities. This commitment strengthens the integration between community-rooted, indigenous and biomedical frameworks of psychological care. This further accentuates the recognition of mental health as a constitutional imperative, and advocates for the protection of vulnerable populations through ethical and culturally responsive regulatory standards.

* By Freddy Abilio Mlambo, Communication and Marketing Specialist (acting), College of Education