SACIA STRUCTURE

SACIA is a SAQA-recognised professional body governed by a Board of Directors. Five of the members are elected from amongst the membership, while up to three individuals may be co-opted to the Board to address specific skills and attributes that would otherwise be missing. The executive director is appointed by the Board and serves as the chief executive officer of the Association, with specific responsibility for providing strategic and operational leadership. Other than the executive director, all Board members serve in a voluntary capacity.

The Board chair is elected from amongst the board members, and serves for a two-year period. The Chair may not serve consecutive terms of office.

Our footprint expands across the broad communications and entertainment industry and we have ten Special Interest Group’s that are active in specific fields. Several of these Special Interest Groups overlap to provide a holistic commitment to excellence in a particular market sector. As an example, we have three SIG’s active in the events industry. In this industry sector, the Council of Event Professionals Africa (CEPA) promotes excellence in event management, the TPSA Council promotes excellence in the technical production and live events sector, while the Event Safety Council promotes a “safety first philosophy” in business, entertainment and sporting events.

While each SIG has a stand-alone focus, by working together they’re able to drive a commitment to professional standards and ethical business practices in related fields, with a shared code of professional conduct across all sectors.

Our Certification Council is responsible for the development of professional designations as well as the assessment protocols that apply to each designation. The responsibilities of the Certification Council cut across all Special Interest Groups to ensure there is a consistent application of competency assessment in awarding and maintaining professional designations.

Each Special Interest Group is governed by a Council that replicates the Board structure, with five members elected from amongst the membership of the Special Interest Group. Three additional members may be co-opted by each Council to address specific skills and attributes that might otherwise be missing. Each Council elects its own chair who serves for two years. The Council chair may not serve consecutive terms of office.

A core responsibility of each Council is to promote the adoption of professional standards, and recognise excellence through the award of professional designations. Each of these designations is registered with SAQA, and all designated members are listed on the National Learner’s Register Database (NLRD). This provides formal recognition of an individual’s knowledge, skill and experience. All designation holders are also required to sign and abide by a code of professional conduct. This binds them to a higher standard of business and ethics. They are also required to participate in a programme of Continuing Professional Development that keeps them up to date on the trends and technologies impacting their profession.

With more than fifty individual members serving on either the Board or our various Councils, SACIA is essentially an Association run by its members in service of their profession.