POLICY
Regional Structures: Roles and Responsibilities
Policy Number:
Date Approved by the Board:
Revision Date:
MACE002
09-06-2015
June 2017
Purpose:
The purpose of this policy is to guide the regional structures of MACE in implementing their regional
programmes effectively and to clarify the roles of members serving on these regional structures of the
organisation.
Scope of Application:
The policy applies to all Regional Directors of MACE who are required to implement the various
annual MACE programme activities within the respective regions and to participate in meetings of the
regional structures. The policy should also be read in conjunction with the Memorandum of
Incorporation (MoI) of the organisation.
Context:
In addition to the national structure, MACE consists of six regions: the Central Region, Free State,
Northern Region, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. These regional structures are
organized and function in accordance with the provisions of the MoI.
Principles:
1.
Regional Structure Composition
Each regional structure is comprised of members who are voted to serve on the structure by member
organisations of MACE that are located in the regions. Within the regions, each paid-up member
institution elects an institutional representative, who in turn, jointly elects the regional structure. Such
regional structure consists of the Regional Chairperson, Regional Deputy-Chair and Regional
Secretary.
In addition, regional structures are allowed to co-opt members onto their committees for a specific
assignment/task and also to form sub-committees if and when required in order to undertake a
specific project.
The Regional Chairperson of each region automatically serves on the national Board of Directors
(BoD) of the organisation.
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2.
Terms of Office
Regional Directors serve on the regional structures for a term of two years and are eligible for reelection for a maximum of one further term. Casual vacancies on the structure (that is, vacancies that
might come about during an office-bearer’s term) are filled by co-opting practitioners from among the
remaining regional member institutions for the remainder of the particular term.
3.
Overall Role and Responsibilities of Regional Structures
Regional structures are generally responsible for the promotion of MACE within their respective
regions and are directly responsible for implementing the MACE annual regional programme activities.
Typically, regional programmes involve the implementation of regional events (such as training
seminars, professional development interventions, networking opportunities, informationsharing/research undertakings, etc) per annum that are hosted by one of the regional member
institutions. Since all MACE member institutions are based within a particular region, regional
members are to be strongly encouraged by the regional structures to annually participate in the
Excellence Awards programme, as well as to attend the MACE Annual Congress.
In practice, and due to the geographic distances between member institutions within some regions,
regional structures are encouraged to conduct their regional meetings in conjunction with regional
events (and to utilize teleconference facilities where appropriate).
4.
Compliance with National Strategy, Disputes and Termination of Regional Structures
While regional structures operate fairly independently and arrange their regional meetings or
programmes as they deem fit, all regional interventions are required to abide by the stipulations of the
organisation’s founding documents/MoI, its policies and guidelines, as well as the resolutions passed
by and instructions issued by the national BoD. Should a regional structure be in gross contravention
of the MoI or fail to comply with the relevant legal or statutory obligations or not apply the principles of
good governance, the national Board reserves the right to take whatever appropriate action, including
the dissolution of the regional structure and replacement of same by a new structure.
Any disputes that are not resolved at regional level must be referred to the national Board for
intervention.
5.
Compensation and Institutional Support
Given that practitioners serve on MACE regional structures in a voluntary capacity, without financial
compensation for their time and effort, it is imperative for institutional representatives who aspire to
serve on these structures to secure the professional approval and support from their own institutional
management structures.
6.
Financial and Banking Matters
Regional structures are not allowed to open or operate their own bank accounts, independent from the
national MACE banking facilities.
All expenses that have been planned/budgeted for, agreed to and approved up-front by the national
Board, are paid to the relevant host institution or service provider, subject to the submission of a valid
invoice for the services rendered/goods purchased/expenses incurred, by the National
Secretary/Treasurer.
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7.
Sponsorship of Regional Events
Regional events are mostly sponsored by the regional host that presents the particular event for its
regional members.
Roles and Regional Meeting Guidelines:
The following principles aim to clarify the roles of the office-bearers who serve on MACE regional
structures and to optimize their functioning:
1.
Roles
The major role description of each of the regional structure office-bearers is as follows:
1.1
Regional Chairperson
The Regional Chairperson leads and controls the implementation of the annual MACE programme in
each region. He/she acts as presiding officer (“chairs”) each regional meeting and in executing such
role, the Regional Chairperson follows the same regulations for conducting meetings, adhering to the
requirements for member attendance, determining a quorum, facilitating decision-making and applying
voting procedures, accepting proxies or apologies, as well as for dispute resolution, as defined by the
MoI for all Directors.
The Regional Chairperson also promotes the organisation, along with his/her committee, among
regional institutions or potential members in order to strategically position MACE at regional level by
maintaining excellent stakeholder relations. He/she furthermore facilitates the planning of regional
interventions in line with the needs of member institutions, oversees the quality of its implementation
and reports back to the national BoD during Board meetings.
The Regional Chairperson represents the region in all matters concerning its members on the national
Board.
1.2
Regional Deputy-Chair
The Regional Deputy-Chair directly supports the activities of the Regional Chairperson, executes the
Regional Chairperson’s instructions and acts in his/her stead when the Regional Chairperson is
unable to or when he/she is requested to do so by the Regional Chairperson. In practice, the
Regional Deputy-Chair is most often directly involved with arranging and implementing the MACE
regional programme activities.
1.3
Regional Secretary
The Regional Secretary is responsible for drafting and circulating the agenda for regional meetings, as
well as for taking and disseminating the minutes of such meetings to the regional members.
He/she is also required to retain a record of agreed-to expenditure that will be submitted to the
National Secretary/Treasurer for reimbursement/payment.
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2.
Guidelines for Regional Meetings
With regard to the guidelines for conducting effective regional meetings, the same rules as those for
steering national Board meetings as described in the MoI and the policy on Meetings of the Board of
Directors (MACE001), where the Regional Director serves as a Director on the national Board, will
apply, including the principles of:
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good governance and due diligence
preparation for and active participation during meetings
demonstrating accountability and transparency
declaring any conflict of interest and recusal from decision-making
applying the principles of justice and fairness
requirements for meeting attendance, apologies and proxies
dispute resolution
termination of tenure.
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