Presidency

The Presidency, which includes the President, President-Elect and Past President, meets on a monthly basis in preparation for the Executive Committee meetings and to consult with the Executive Director regarding the short- and long-term objectives of the Society. The former includes the organisation’s day-to-day functioning and the latter involves its strategic planning and growth initiatives to ensure PsySSA’s position as the leading professional psychology association in the country and the continent.

President: Prof Mercy Tshilidzi Mulaudzi

Mercy Tshilidzi-Mulaudzi is Professor of Psychology at the University of Venda and is Acting Executive Dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences comprising 5 departments, including Psychology. Her research interests are in Mental Health, HIV and AIDS, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Gender-Based Violence andEpidemiology. In the field of Psychology for 36 years, Prof Tshilidzi-Mulaudzi has taught, conducted research, and supervised graduates in psychology who are self-employed or who work in the public and private sectors. She has previously served as Additional Member on the PsySSA Executive and currently serves the in South African National Committee for the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS). Prof Mulaudzi is an academic leader who has not lost her connection with practitioners and the communities she interacts with. Despite her accolades and achievements, she remains humble and accessible.

President – Elect: Prof Jace Pillay 

Prof Jace Pillay is a Senior Professor and SA Research Chair in Education and Care at the University of Johannesburg. He has been registered as an educational and counselling psychologist for 32 years and holds several positions in the Professional Board for Psychology. His research focuses on orphans and vulnerable children, mental health of young people, psychosocial support in schools, and care and support for teaching and learning. He has more than 100 publications and mentored numerous students and staff.

Past President: Prof Floretta Boonzaier

Floretta Boonzaier is Professor of Psychology at the University of Cape Town, and co-Director of the Hub for Decolonial Feminist Psychologies in Africa. She is noted for her work in feminist, critical and postcolonial psychologies, research on subjectivity in relation to race, gender and sexuality, work on gendered and sexual violence, and decolonial research methodologies. She was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Psychology in Society (PINS) from 2018 to 2021. She is a past UCT Mandela Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University and a past recipient of the runner up award in the South African Department of Science and Technology’s Women in Science awards, for the category of Distinguished Young Woman Researcher in the Social Sciences or Humanities. She serves on the Board of Mosaic Training, Service and Healing Centre for Women, in Cape Town and the African Gender Institute and Huma Institute at the University of Cape Town. She is also an Executive Committee Member of the Sexuality and Gender Division of the Psychological Society of South Africa. Her recent publications include the co-edited volumes Engaging youth in activism, research and pedagogical praxis. Transnational and intersectional perspectives on gender, sex and race (Routledge, 2018), Decolonial Feminist Community Psychology (Springer, 2019 ), Men, Masculinities and Intimate Partner Violence (Routledge, 2020) and the co-authored book, Pan-Africanism and Psychology in Decolonial Times (Palgrave Macmillan, in press).