{"id":864,"date":"2025-03-31T23:47:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T23:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/2025\/03\/31\/fees-and-remuneration-in-south-africa-in-the-1920s\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T23:47:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T23:47:07","slug":"fees-and-remuneration-in-south-africa-in-the-1920s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/2025\/03\/31\/fees-and-remuneration-in-south-africa-in-the-1920s\/","title":{"rendered":"Fees and Remuneration in South Africa in the 1920\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

The South African <\/span>Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics (now known as the<\/span>\u00a0South African Society of Physiotherapy) was formed on 11 December 1924. It <\/span>had four branches, aligned with the country\u2019s provinces at the time: the Cape Province, Transvaal, Natal and Orange Free State. Early considerations of the Central Governing Board, the management structure at the time, included membership dues and treatment fees; <\/span>in other words what physiotherapists will earn in those years.<\/p>\n

Membership Dues<\/h4>\n

Despite becoming a Union in 1910, English influence was still strong at the time and South Africa regarded itself as a British Colony. Subsequently the newly born Society used the British currency to determine their fees.<\/p>\n

New members, who joined the Society, were to pay a membership fee of \u00a31 \u2013 approximately \u00a378 today. Annual subscriptions were 10\/6d (ten shillings and sixpence) \u2013 approximately \u00a341 today. A resolution was passed that members \u201cin pecuniary embarrassment\u201d could pay in equal monthly instalments.<\/p>\n

Treatment Fees<\/h4>\n

The following scale of treatment fees were determined:<\/p>\n

10\/6d (approximately \u00a341 today) per treatment in treatment rooms,
\n12\/6d for cases visited at home,
\n\u201cAn extra fee may be charged for electrical treatment,\u201d as well as for lengthy treatments or long distance travels\u201d,
\n\u201cSpecial consideration is to be given to necessitous cases\u201d.<\/p>\n

By 1929, \u00a325 a month \u2013 approximately \u00a31,942 today \u2013 was accepted by the Society as \u201cthe absolute minimum\u201d remuneration for a full-time, non-resident position. General Secretary Miss Troughton wrote of this figure,<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026though not satisfactory, [it] is actually paid by the leading Hospital in the Union, ie, Johannesburg\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was, at least, a living wage, she said, but an offer advertised in Natal for a starting salary of \u00a312\/10\/ she characterised as \u201cpreposterous\u201d. The Society proposed \u00a330 per month for a head masseuse and \u00a327\/10\/ for an assistant \u2013 less \u00a310 for resident masseuses.<\/p>\n

Notes<\/h4>\n

Thanks to Mandi Smallhorne, whose research into the history of the South African Society of Physiotherapy yielded the information in this article
\nComparison financial figures determined using the website https:\/\/www.in2013dollars.com\/uk\/inflation\/1924<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South African Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics (now known as the\u00a0South African Society of Physiotherapy) was formed on 11 December 1924. It had four branches, aligned with the country\u2019s provinces at the time: the Cape Province, Transvaal, Natal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-physio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}