Public health in South Africa 1975–89: reflections on a momentous past

摘要

It is an honour for me to reflect on a momentous period in the evolution of South Africa’s Public Health. In 1979, Wits University appointed its first full-time Chair of Community Health to a post, which had been approved four years earlier. The delay in filling the post was a product of bureaucratic challenge and uncertainty around the job description of the incumbent. The bureaucratic challenge centred on the post being a tri-partite appointment, with the successful candidate answerable to the National Department of Health, the Provincial Department of Hospital Services, and the University of the Witwatersrand. A further complication was that most public health activities took place under the auspices of the Johannesburg Municipality which was not a part of the tri-partite arrangement but which had a strong presence on the selection committee.