The South African Orthotic and Prosthetic Association Congress of 2009 took place at the picturesque Lord Charles Hotel in Cape Town at the beginning of November with over 150 local and international guests in attendance.
International guest speaker, Dan Blocka, President of ISPO (International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics) congratulated ISPO South Africa on setting a new record. When they joined ISPO, with 118 members, they achieved
the largest membership of any joining body. ISPO SA is now looking for members from other fields such physiotherapists, occupational therapists and technical engineers as the current membership is largely made up of SAOPA members. ISPOSA membership for the new year will be R550 for non SAOPA members and includes the €34 ISPO fee.
Dan spoke on international trends and mentioned that South African O&P is not yet reflecting the move towards a female dominated industry. He also spoke of the need for ISPO to provide guidance for category III (technician) training.
This level is becoming ever more important and accessible for people at grass roots level as they need only a primary school diploma (grade 7).
As he handed the reins over to Allan Oates out-going chairperson, Riaan Knight, emphasised the important role played by younger practitioners and the new ideas that 
they bring to the profession.
Eugene Vorster of the South African Disabled Golf Association (sadga.co.za) spoke of their First Swing Programme and played a video of up-and-coming East London golfer, Olwetu Tybilika. Bolton & Midlane immediately pledged to look after Olwetu’s mobility requirements for the duration of his stay in the First Swing Programme. Craig and Peter, of Medac, were so impressed by First Swing that they decided to do something too and auctioned off four provincial rugby jerseys, signed by the players, raising R54,000!
But there were only four jerseys and 100s of practitioners so a reverse auction was held for prosthetists to supply and fit devices at a reduced price. It was agreed that the auction would be for below the knee devices and thirteen companies agreed to provide them for free! Knight Medical went one step futher and threw in a Tammert hip joint valued at R20,000, and Orthomed jumped in pledging three prostheses, bringing the value (including the cash raised in the auction) to a staggering R524,000!!
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| Generous Os & Ps: Michael Nel, Jason Chin & Assoc., Craig Wright, Barkly & Oates, Roger Wolfson, Hennie Neethling, Roland Togood, Gerhard Ferreira, Phil Stander, Schmidt & van der Meer, Jonathan de Villiers, Orthomed and Gary Bolton. Eugene Rossouw pledged a 25% discount on Össur components |
The hunt is on to find under-priveleged youngsters with below the knee needs.
If you are aware of someone who meets these criteria please text the word GOLF followed by your name and the name of the deserving young person to 36111. This MUST be followed by a fax (to 088 011 763 5790) OR send an email to risubscriptions@telkomsa.net providing a motivation as to why this young person should be included, their contact details and where they live.
NB: there are only 14 devices available, so inclusion is not guaranteed.
