Partial court victory for two UCT graduates

TWO former UCT students who completed a two-year MA in neuropsychology at the university in 2013, but failed to be registered to practise as neuropsychologists, scored a partial victory when the Western Cape High Court gave them a month to amend their claim against the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) and the Professional Board for Psychology.

The court ruled that Yvonne Gartner and Tarah Leigh Swanepoel had failed to set out the source or basis of the legal obligation on the board to create administrative procedures in order to register them as neuropsychologists.

However, Judge Patrick Gamble said: “In the circumstances, I am of the view that the authorities have peered at the pleadings with a magnifying glass of too high a power.”

The judge said the objections raised by the students succeeded only partially.

“The parties were agreed that in the event that the exception was upheld in any respects, Gartner and Swanepoel should be afforded a reasonable opportunity to consider further amending the particulars of their claim.

“As far as the question of costs is concerned, I consider that it would be just and equitable to award the HPCSA and the board two-thirds of their costs, given that they achieved substantial success in the matter,” the judge said.

After completing the degree, a minor dissertation and an unpaid internship, Gartner and Swanepoel expected to be entitled to apply to the HPCSA, alternatively the board, for registration as professional neuropsychologists and to be registered and accredited as such by the HPCSA.

However, Gartner and Swanepoel claimed that the HPCSA and the board had failed to set a professional entrance exam for the professional category of neuropsychology and failed to provide for the registration of graduates from UCT’s MA in neuropsychology programme as neuropsychologists.

Consequently, they were not registered under the Health Professions Act, could not practise as neuropsychologists and claimed to have suffered damages in the form of pure economic loss. Gartner and Swanepoel’s claims for damages from UCT, the HPCSA and the board in the form of lost income were calculated to be in excess of R41 million and R125m respectively.