Council makes list of non-practising pharmacists available

Section 3 of the Pharmacy Act mandates the South African Pharmacy Council to, amongst others, safeguard the public’s right to universally acceptable standards of pharmacy practice. One of the many ways in which Council achieves this is by helping pharmacists stay abreast of the latest developments and best practice in the profession through the implementation of the Regulations relating to continuing professional development.

Council makes list of non-practising pharmacists available

As at August 2026, South Africa has 19 502 pharmacists (including Community Service Pharmacists), about 8,5% (1 661) of whom are non-practising – which means that these pharmacists are currently not providing one or more of the services or acts pertaining to the scope of practice of a pharmacist. Furthermore, by virtue of not being declared practising on the South African Pharmacy Council registers, non-practising pharmacists are not expected to comply with annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements. In turn, these pharmacists may not perform acts or provide service related to their scope of practice.

In line with its legislative mandate to uphold and safeguard the rights of the general public to universally acceptable standards of pharmacy practice and to ensure that only practising pharmacists practise their scope of practice, Council has resolved to publish the details of all non-practising pharmacists on the Council website.

Employers and pharmacy professionals are encouraged to search the Council Register to verify the registration and designation of pharmacists prior to granting them access to services and/or acts pertaining to the scope of practice of pharmacists. Pharmacists employed to offer services or perform acts pertaining to the scope of practice of pharmacists, either on a fulltime, locum or part-time basis, may not appear on the List of Non-practising Pharmacists available on the Council website at this web address: https://www.sapc.za.org/Pharmacists_Overview

Should a non-practising pharmacist wish to change their status to practising so that they may access their scope of practice at any point after their “non practising” designation, they may fill in an application form available at the following web address and comply with the fees and CPD requirements: https://www.sapc.za.org/Pharmacists_Applications