Back in our Aug. 13th issue we reported on the then upcoming first International Chiropractic Congress in Sun City, South Africa, Oct. 10-16, 1993.
Some people expressed concern that a chiropractic gathering would be held in the land of apartheid, in a country that many nations had imposed economic sanctions on.
Only a month after the International Chiropractic Congress, the South African parliament approved a new constitution that ended 45 years of apartheid, and gave all races the right to vote in elections set for April 27th.
The shift in power from President F.W. de Klerk to African National Congress President Nelson Mandela is the expected outcome of those elections, which would end 46 years of National Party rule.
While turbulent times are most certainly ahead for South Africa, the International Chiropractic Congress in Sun City was certainly a timely event in the history of South Africa and is perhaps a good omen for that nation's future. Under the able auspices of the Chiropractic Association of South Africa and Congress Chairman Dr. Willem Boshoff, delegates from the US, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, and Nambia came to South Africa to meet and form a multidisciplinary panel addressing the latest spinal research findings.
Speakers from around the world, including orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, neurosurgeons, radiologists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, ergonomists offered a veritable academic feast.
"The International Chiropractic Congress ... was one of the most impressive and memorable meetings I have attended for many years," said Scott Haldeman, DC, MD, PhD, one of the notable speakers at the Congress. Dr. Haldeman is an associate clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, Irvine, and chairman of the Research Council of the World Federation of Chiropractic.
While the attendees could all agree that the setting was spectacular, and the food and entertainment equivalent or better than any first class resort in the world, Dr. Haldeman added this comment:
"I believe the Chiropractic Association of South Africa should be encouraged to hold international congresses of this type on a regular basis so that other chiropractors around the world can enjoy the experience of seeing a country evolve, observe the spectacular scenery of South Africa, and see their profession grow is a manner unprecedented in any other country in the world."
There are currently 134 chiropractors in South Africa, and 109 chiropractic students. South African boasts two chiropractic colleges, Technikon Natal, in the Durban suburb of the Berea, the country's first chiropractic college, and Technikon Witwatersrand (Johannesburg), that offers a master's degree in chiropractic.
