South African Nursing Council
Annual Fees and Annual Practising Certificate

Contents:

What is an Annual Practising Certificate?

The Annual Practising Certificate (APC) is a document (issued on payment of an annual fee) to nursing and midwifery practitioners and it entitles the person to whom it has been issued to practise in the capacities shown and for the period stated: provided that the person is not subsequently removed from the register of practitioners.

Every registration certificate issued by the Council is proof that the person to whom it is issued is registered in the capacity indicated on the certificate for a period of 12 months from the date on the certificate.  Thereafter, the practitioner must pay an annual fee and be issued an Annual Practisiing Certificate in order to continue to practise in that capacity.  The APC then serves as proof of registration for all qualifications appearing thereon.

This is a provision of Section 36(2) of the Nursing Act, 2005 which reads as follows:

"(2) A certificate of registration is proof of registration for a period of one year after its date and thereafter an annual practising certificate, issued upon payment of the prescribed annual fee and the submission of such information as may be required by the Council to keep accurate statistics on human resources in nursing, is proof of registration in the absence of any credible evidence to the contrary."

Employers (particularly the HR departments) should take careful note of the preceeding paragraph and its implications.  There is some confusion in the field about this point, so it is necessary to emphasise the fact that during the valid period of the registration certificate (12 months), it is quite incorrect for employers to insist on the nurse paying the annual fee and getting an APC that reflects the new registered capacity.  Even worse, it is not correct for an employer to insist that an employee "update" an APC which has already been issued to the employer.  If this "updating issue" is a bit confusing, lets demonstrate by means of an example:

An employee is registered as General Nurse and paid the annual fee for 2009 in December 2008 in order to remain on the register as such.  Her APC correctly shows her to be a General Nurse.  In May 2009, she completes the one year Midwifery Programme and is registered as Midwife.  Some time later she will receive her registration certificate showing that she is now registered as Midwife (from 31 May 2009).  Her APC is proof that she is registered as General Nurse for 2009.  Her registration certificate is proof that she is registered as Midwife for the period 31 May 2009 to 31 May 2010.  Obviously, when she pays the annual fee for 2010 (must be paid by 31 March 2010), both qualifications will be reflected on the new APC so she will be covered for the calendar year 2010.

Even if an employer were to insist that Council re-issue the APC, it would make no difference because, on the date on which the APC was issued (December 2009) this person was only registered as General Nurse - so that is all that will be reflected.

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Who Must Pay the Annual Fee?

Persons currently practising in the Republic of South Africa:

Every person registered with the Council who wishes to continue practising his/her profession in the Republic of South Africa for the following year must pay the annual fee before or on the due date in the year concerned.

Persons wishing to be restored to the register / rolls:

Every persons wishing to be restored to the register/rolls in order to practise his/her profession in the Republic of South Africa, must pay the annual fee for the year in which he/she intends to resume practising together with the application for restoration.  In this case, an Annual Practising Certificate will only be issued if the application for restoration is approved.  If not, the fees will be refunded to the applicant.

Note 1:  The annual fee may also be paid by persons who are not currently practising - but this is not compulsory.  Council recommends that if you wish to be removed from the register, you submit an application form for Voluntary Removal (obtainable from Council) as this will make it less expensive to be restored at a later date.

Note 2:  It is a condition of employment in some positions that a person is registered with the Council (even though the person may not actually be practising his/her profession).  If you are in such a position and you are considering allowing your name to be removed from the register, please check your conditions of employment/service very carefully before doing so.

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When Must the Annual Fee be Paid?

The regulations have been changed (on 24 January 2003) and a person must now pay the annual fee before or on 31 March of the year for which it is due.  However, this may change again in future.  This page will be updated as soon as possible when and if it happens.

Early birds can pay the fee from 1 July of the year preceding the year for which it is due - no earlier.

Note 1:  It is the responsibility of every registered or enrolled person to make sure that his/her annual fee reaches Council by the due date.

Note 2:  If your remittance is sent by post, please allow sufficient time for it to reach Council by the due date.

WARNING:  If you wish to pay at the Council offices in the last few weeks before the due date, please be WARNED that the queues can sometimes be very long at that time.  We recommend that you consider paying you fee into the bank to avoid a long wait.

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How much are the Annual Fees?

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How Can the Annual Fee be Paid?

A reminder is usually sent out to each registered person towards the end of each year.  The reminder gives full details of how to pay the annual fee for the following year.  The reminder also contains a convenient First National Bank deposit slip that has some of the persons details already filled in.

Council recommends that you pay the annual fee using the First National Bank deposit slip.  For most people, it will be the most convenient way of paying the fee.

WARNING: Do not pay at the bank if your personal details or postal address must be changed - the system is so quick that your Annual Practising Certificate will be issued showing the old details or postal address.

If you have received a reminder, carefully follow the instructions printed on it and also read the important notes section. This will ensure that your payment is processed without undue delay.

The information in the following sections will assist you if you do not receive a reminder.

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Important Notes when Paying the Annual Fee

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Paying the Annual Fee at any First National Bank

This is the recommended way of paying the annual fee.

1. Fill in and sign an Account Deposit Slip.  Use the Council's bank details shown below.
2. Write your Council reference number (8-digit number starting with a '1') in the Reference block on the form.
3. Hand both copies of the deposit slip plus your payment (cash or cheque) to the teller.  If you are paying with cash, you do not need the exact amount - the teller will give you change if necessary.
4. Keep your copy of the deposit slip safe in case of queries.
5. Allow 4 weeks for your Annual Practising Certificate to reach you by post.

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Paying the Annual Fee by Debit Order

When using a debit order, the Council will automatically deduct your annual fee EACH YEAR directly from your nominated bank account.  WARNING:  Although this is a very convenient way to pay the annual fee, you must ensure that there are sufficient funds in your account to cover the deduction on the specified date - there are heavy penalties if the deduction is rejected.

1. Download a debit order instruction form from this website.
    ™ (debit order instruction form in PDF format) 
2. Fill in and sign the debit order instruction form.
3. If necessary, attach a cancelled cheque to the form.  Otherwise, take the form to your bank branch to have it certified and stamped.
4. Post the form to Council or hand it in at the Council offices.  (YOU CANNOT FAX DEBIT ORDER FORMS TO COUNCIL - ORIGINAL SIGNED FORMS ARE NECESSARY.)
5. Council will deduct the correct amount from your bank account on the specified date each year - unless you cancel the instruction.
6. If the amount is successfully deducted, Council will post your Annual Practising Certificate to you after a waiting period of 10 days - necessary to allow the banks to notify Council of any problems deducting the fees.
7. Please remember to notify the Council immediately should your bank account details change - so that your debit order details can be changed accordingly.

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Paying the Annual Fee by Post

Use this method if you need to change your personal details, postal address, etc.

1. Post your payment (cash, cheque, or postal orders) to Council together with a short note indicating who the payment is from.
2. You should at least indicate your Council reference number and full names.  Also indicate your identity number if possible and a telephone number where you can be contacted in case of queries.
3. You can also download a remittance advice from this website that will make sure that you do not leave out any important information.
    ™ (remittance advice in PDF format) 
4. Allow 6 weeks for your Annual Practising Certificate to reach you by post.
5. If sending cash (which Council does NOT recommend), please send it by registered post.

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Paying the Annual Fee at the Council Offices

WARNING: Use this method only if you need your Annual Practising Certificate in a great hurry as the queues can sometimes be very long!

1. Hand an old Annual Practising Certificate (or other document bearing your Council reference number) or your identity document together with your payment (cash, cheque, or credit card) to the cashier.
2. If your registration is up-to-date, your Annual Practising Certificatewill be handed to you immediately.

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Paying the Annual Fee Electronically

You are welcome to pay by Internet/telephone banking, etc.  Be warned that payment must be received in the Council bank account before or on the due date and Council will NOT consider any relaxation of this requirement.  In this regard, please take note of the rules of your banking institution regarding the effective date on which payment will be made to the beneficiary (SA Nursing Council).  (You have agreed to these rules in your undertaking with your banking institution.)

1. Use the Council banking details shown below.
2. You must ensure that the Council can positively identify who the payment is from.  Make sure that the details that will be printed in the Council's bank statement contain your Council reference number followed by your full names.  Check that this information is correct!  It is not necessary to add any other information such as "Ref.", "SANC", "annual fees", etc. - this sometimes hides the important information because some of the banks cut off information that is too long.  Companies are warned that their systems often only print the company name (by default) in council's bank statement and Council received no other information to identify the nurse for whom the payment is made.
3. Allow 4 weeks for your annual receipt and licence to practise to reach you by post.
4. Council staff cannot help you with queries regarding your bank's electronic systems - please refer your queries to your bank. (Standard Bank Internet banking clients - please see the notes in the following section).

Can I be sure that Council will allocate my electronic payment correctly?

Council processes all payments into the No. 2 Account electronically and has already processed well over 1,12 million payment in this way.  Statistics show that the system allocates payments automatically to the correct person 99,4% of the time.  The remaining 0,6% have to be allocated manually.  Follow the above instructions carefully and help us make it 100% !!!  (Statistics as at 2009-09-28.)

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Standard Bank Internet Banking Clients - Please Note

Many Standard Bank Internet banking clients have problems paying the Council electronically.  Follow the instructions below and it should be easy.  These instructions have been adapted from the instructions on the Standard Bank website to specifically cater for payments to the Nursing Council.  (Please follow the instructions on the bank's website for payments to any other beneficiary.)

First define S A Nursing Council as a beneficiary.

1. Go into internet banking.
2. Click on Payments.
3. Click on Add new Company beneficiary button.
4. Enter the one time password sent to your cellphone or e-mail address.
5. Choose the company from the list.
6. The screen will allows you to search by Company Name.
7. Type 'S' (space) 'A' in the Company Name field and click on Search.  (This is where most clients have difficulty - you must type capital letter 'S' followed by one space and the capital letter 'A' - if you type anything else or even leave out the space you will not see S A Nursing Council listed.  As an alternative you can try typing a single 'S' which will also work, but the list will be much longer.)
8. Select 'S A NURSING COUNCIL' from the drop-down list and click on Select.
9. The company number for the Council (42280051885) will be filled in by the system.  (This is a number used by Standard Bank to refer to the Council bank account - it is not our bank account number and you should not be worried that it is different from the Council bank account number.)
10. Enter something like 'SANC FEES' in the My reference section - this information will appear on YOUR bank statement.
11. Enter your Council reference number in the Beneficiary reference section - this information will be printed on the COUNCIL bank statement and is very important for the correct allocation of your payment!  (Your Council reference number is the 8-digit number starting with a '1' that is always printed on all correspondence from the Council.  Check this number very carefully.  Standard Bank's system will not allow you to type anything else besides your Council reference number in the Beneficiary reference section - not even your name.)
12. Click on Continue.
13. Check the details on the confirmation screen.
14. If you are satisfied that everything is correct, click on Confirm.
15. S A Nursing Council will now be set up as a beneficiary on your account.

Now you can make payments to Council at any time using the beneficiary you have just set up.  Proceed as you would do for any other account payment.

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Tips for Persons Wishing to Pay the Annual Fee from Outside the Republic of South Africa

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Further Information

What does an Annual Practising Certificate look like?

The Annual Practising Certificate is issued on a pre-printed document bearing the Council logo, name, contact details and the title 'Annual Practising Certificate'.  Full personal particulars of the person concerned and a list of the categories in which the person is entitled to practise are printed on the document by computer.  Registered additional qualifications (if any) and listed short courses certificates (if any) are also printed.

To aid in correct identification of the person, the Council reference number and full names of the person to whom the Annual Practising Certificate is issued are always printed on the document.  If known, the South African identity number is also printed.

The Annual Practising Certificate is ALWAYS printed by computer and will NEVER contain any changes or alterations of any kind.

The Annual Practising Certificate forms vary in colour and layout from year to year.

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Does the Council Issue Duplicates?

The Council does not issue duplicate Annual Practising Certificates on request.  This is a security measure to ensure that an Annual Practising Certificate is not used fraudulently.

Council staff sometimes print a duplicate to replace a document that (for example) has not printed correctly. Any such document will be endorsed with the word 'DUPLICATE'.  Unfortunately, this endorsement is an internal control measure and does not mean that duplicates are available on request.

A person who has lost his/her Annual Practising Certificate can apply for a confirmation letter - see the following section.

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What is a Confirmation Letter?

The Council issues (on request) a letter confirming that a registered person has paid the annual fee.  The letter gives full details of the Annual Practising Certificate including the categories in which the person is registered to practice.

A persons who has lost his/her Annual Practising Certificate  can apply for a confirmation letter.  The Council however receives far too many requests for these and is considering charging a fee for the issue of these letters in future - if the demand does not decrease significantly.

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Learners who must pay the Annual Fee

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Who Qualifies for an Extension to pay the Annual Fee?

If for some or other reason, a new registration is processed very late (about 12 months late), a reminder to pay the annual fee for the following year may be sent to the person concerned together with their registration documents.  If it is clear to the Council that the person concerned will not be able to respond to the request for payment before the due date because of insufficient time, then that person will be given an extension to pay the annual fee.

The extension date (by which the annual fee must be paid) will be communicated to the person by letter which is usually included with the registration documents.

Extensions are granted exclusively according to administrative policy.

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Annual Fee Remittance Advice Form

 ™    Download a copy of an annual fee remittance advice  

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Annual Fee Debit Order Instruction Form

 ™    Download a copy of an annual fee debit order instruction form  

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