The South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP), which is the statutory oversight authority for the architectural profession in the country, has announced that it will launch its 2025 Amnesty Campaign on Tuesday (April 1). This campaign, which will run until June 30, is intended to help those professionals and candidates whose registration with the Council was cancelled because they did not pay their required annual fees before April 1, 2022.

“The amnesty does not extend to individuals deregistered for professional misconduct or ethical breaches,” explained SACAP in its statement. “Those whose registrations were cancelled for misconduct and have outstanding invoices related to the misconduct will need to settle these amounts before applying for amnesty.”

To re-register under the amnesty, eligible candidates and professionals only need to pay the annual fees for the financial year 2025/26. The administrative and penalty fees that would normally be imposed have been waived. However, candidates should be aware that any of their monthly training records obtained while their registrations were cancelled will not be recognised.

“This campaign is part of SACAP’s ongoing commitment to upholding the integrity and regulatory standards of the architectural profession in South Africa,” it elucidated. “It provides a vital opportunity for these individuals to reinstate their registration and continue practicing in compliance with the profession’s standards. The primary aim of the amnesty is to offer a fair and transparent process for deregistered candidates and professionals to regain their standing with the SACAP, thus ensuring their legal right to practice architecture in South Africa.”

Those professionals who are reinstated will have to attend Category 1 continuing professional development (CPD) events recognised by SACAP and earn a minimum of two CPD points. Further, they will have to earn two penalty CPD points, which means that they will need to earn a total of 27 CPD points during the CPD cycle, with seven of these coming from Category 1 events.

SACAP oversees professional architects, senior architectural technologists, architectural technologists, draughtspeople, plus “specified categories” and candidates for each of these professions.