Presidents’ Welcome

It is a great pleasure to invite you to join us in Cape Town, the Mother City for this, the 25th Scientific Congress of the Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa and the 2nd Continental Congress of our Continental Association, CAANS.

We do so in the spirit of Ubuntu, the philosophy that shapes the lives, thoughts and deeds of millions of Africans. The core of Ubuntu is the belief that a person is a person through other people – we are all interconnected and achieve happiness and success in striving for the good of others. There are few better opportunities to celebrate this common humanity than coming together as a community at the time of an international congress.

South Africa has a remarkable history, with the achievement of democracy two decades ago serving as an inspiration to many around the world. This is a time of unprecedented unity and progress for Neurosurgery in Africa, following the first historic CAANS Congress in the beautiful city of Algiers in 2014. This congress presents an opportunity to stimulate neurosurgery across our continent, bringing together neurosurgeons from across Africa, as well as colleagues from elsewhere in the world who are interested in contributing to neurosurgery in Africa.

To this end, we are thrilled to welcome the Congress of Neurological Surgeons who will be our international partner organisation in Cape Town, and CAANS will play the same role at the CNS Annual Meeting in San Diego from 24-28 September 2016.

The meeting will offer a diverse, relevant and cutting-edge scientific program, numerous educational opportunities for trainees and unprecedented networking opportunities for anyone wishing to understand the current status of neurosurgery across our continent. As neurosurgeons, we must make our case as part of global health and nowhere is that more pressing than in Africa.

Cape Town is quite simply a stunningly beautiful city and we encourage you to take a few days before or after the meeting to explore Table Mountain and the Peninsula, the Winelands, Garden Route or the many safari options we have on offer.

Please help us to make this the largest gathering ever of African neurosurgeons!


Mike du Trevou President 2nd CAANS Continental Congress		Graham Fieggen President 25th SNSA Scientific Congress

Committees

SNSA Executive (2014 – 2016)

Jacques du Plessis (President)
Allan Taylor (President-Elect)
John Ouma (Secretary)
Patrick Lekgwara (Treasurer)
Ian Vlok (Membership)
Graham Fieggen (WFNS Senior Delegate)
Mike du Trevou (WFNS Second Delegate)

Congress Organising
Committee

Mike du Trevou (Chair)
Graham Fieggen (SNSA)
Allan Taylor (SNSA)
Ian Vlok (SNSA)
Muhammad Raji Mahmud (CAANS)
Shekar Kurpad (CNS)
Russ Lonser (CNS)
Salman Sharif (MESS)

CAANS Administrative
Council (2014 – 2016)

Graham Fieggen:
President (South Africa)
Abderrahmane Sidi Said:
President-Elect (Algeria)
Samuila Sanoussi:
Secretary (Niger)
Souad Bakhti: Treasurer (Algeria)
Mohamed El Fiki:
Assistant Secretary, Anglophone (Egypt)
Mohamed Djennas:
Assistant Secretary, Francophone (Algeria)
Aaron Musara:
Assistant Treasurer (Zimbabwe)
Muhammad Raji Mahmud
(Association Editor)

CAANS Second Vice
Presidents (2014 – 2016)

Youssef Bouzoubaa (North)(Morocco)
Bello Shehu (West)(Nigeria)
Vincent Ba Zeze (Central)(IvoryCoast)
Mahmood Qureshi (East)(Kenya)
Tonifaniry Rambolarimanana
(South)(Madagascar)