Key Benefits:
(1) No person, including a person employed by the Government as a veterinary officer or otherwise, shall-
(a) practise veterinary medicine;
(b) hold himself out, or allow himself to be held out, as a veterinary surgeon; or
(c) hold himself out, or allow himself to be held out, as qualified to practise veterinary medicine, unless he is registered, in accordance with the provisions of this Part, to practise as a veterinary surgeon.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Council shall consider, for temporary registration, any veterinary surgeon not resident in Botswana for research purposes or any speciality work to be done in Botswana for a limited period of time.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as precluding an unregistered person, authorised by the Council, from providing, performing or giving, in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 1, any treatment, test, advice, diagnosis or attendance which is specified in that Schedule.
(4) The Council shall maintain a list of all unregistered persons authorised by it to carry out, in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 1, any treatment, test, advice, diagnosis or attendance which is specified in that Schedule.
(1) There shall be a Registrar of Veterinary Surgeons who shall be appointed by the Minister from among veterinary surgeons who are permanent residents or citizens of Botswana and who are employed in the Public Service.
(2) The Registrar shall be the Secretary to the Council and shall be responsible for-
(a) the day-to-day administration of the Council; and
(b) the registration of veterinary surgeons, as directed by the Council.
(3) The Council shall, from time to time, inspect the office of the Registrar so as to ensure that the office is properly run and records are properly kept.
9. Application for registration
(1) A person who wishes to be registered as a veterinary surgeon shall apply to the Registrar.
(2) The application referred to in subsection (1) shall be in the prescribed form, (or a form approved for the purpose by the Council), and shall be accompanied by-
(a) the prescribed application fee;
(b) proof of academic qualification , in the form of a degree, diploma, certificate or any other document, or a copy thereof certified by or on behalf of the university or institution which granted or issued the original thereof, that the applicant possesses the requisite qualifications for registration as a veterinary surgeon;
(c) a recent photograph of the applicant with his signature on the back and certified as a true likeness by a Commissioner of Oaths;
(d) written evidence, satisfactory to the Council, that the applicant is a person of good character and repute and a fit and proper person to be registered as a veterinary surgeon, from the-
(i) where the applicant is a non-citizen, an equivalent body of the applicant's country of origin, or
(ii) veterinary school from which the applicant obtained qualifications referred to under section 9 (2) (b); and
(e) the names and addresses of three referees who must have known the applicant for at least two years and who would be prepared to certify in respect of the applicant's character and reputation to the Council.
(3) A person employed as a veterinary officer by the Government who applies for registration as a veterinary surgeon shall not be exempt from payment of the application fee.
(4) The referees referred to in subsection (2) (e) shall include the Chairperson or the Secretary of the Council, or an equivalent body of the applicant's country of origin.
10. Examination to qualify to practise as veterinary surgeon
Without prejudice to any other steps the Council may take for the purpose of satisfying itself that a person has the requisite knowledge and skill to qualify him or her for registration to practise veterinary surgery in Botswana, the Council may, for that purpose, require such person to sit for examinations held for the purposes of this section by or under arrangements made by the Council.
11. Qualifications for registration
(1) The requisite qualifications for registration as a veterinary surgeon, referred to in section 9 (2) (b), shall be such qualifications as the Minister, acting on the advice of the Council, may prescribe.
(2) No person shall be registered under this Act unless he or she is resident in Botswana.
12. Registration as veterinary surgeon
(1) Where an applicant satisfies the requirements set out in section 9 for registration, the Registrar shall, subject to the provisions of section 10 and subsection (2) hereof, enter his or her name in the Register as a veterinary surgeon, together with the particulars specified in section 9 (2).
(2) No person shall be registered as a veterinary surgeon if he or she has been struck off the Register, of any registering authority for veterinary surgeons outside Botswana, and has not been reinstated thereon, or if the Council or the High Court in Botswana or any equivalent body or court outside Botswana has not ordered that his or her name be restored to the Register.
(3) The Registrar shall after registering a person as a veterinary surgeon, issue such person with a certificate of registration.
(4) There shall be paid by a veterinary surgeon, within three months of registration, an annual registration fee which shall be prescribed by the Minister.
13. Register of veterinary surgeons
The Registrar shall open and maintain a register to be styled "the Register of Veterinary Surgeons" in which shall be entered the-
(a) registration number of the veterinary surgeon;
(b) personal identification number of the veterinary surgeon;
(c) surname and the first name or names, of the veterinary surgeon;
(d) permanent postal address of the veterinary surgeon;
(e) qualifications of the veterinary surgeon; and
(f) date of registration of every person as a veterinary surgeon.
14. Declaration made by registered veterinary surgeons
(1) On admission to the Register and before registration, a veterinary surgeon shall make the declaration set out in Schedule 2.
(2) The Registrar shall be the custodian of all declarations made under subsection (1).
A veterinary surgeon who satisfies the Council that he or she has obtained and possesses any prescribed qualifications additional to the qualifications by virtue of which he or she was registered shall be entitled to have such additional qualifications inserted in the Register in substitution for, or in addition to, the qualifications previously registered under his or her name.
16. Notification of change of name and address
A veterinary surgeon shall notify the Registrar of any change in his or her name or address, and the Registrar shall record such change in the Register.
17. Certificate signed by Registrar admissible
A certificate purporting to be signed by the Registrar that a person is or is not registered as a veterinary surgeon shall, in proceedings before any court, be admissible in evidence without further proof thereof, and the court shall presume that the facts stated therein are true unless the contrary is proved.
18. Striking off and removal of veterinary surgeon from the Register
(1) The Registrar shall strike off the Register the name of any veterinary surgeon which the Council has directed to be struck off under section 36.
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1), the Registrar shall remove, from the Register, the name of any veterinary surgeon who-
(a) makes written application to the Registrar to have his or her name removed from the Register;
(b) the Registrar is satisfied is dead;
(c) the Registrar is satisfied has ceased to practise veterinary surgery in Botswana;
(d) has permanently left Botswana; or
(e) has not paid up the annual registration fee after the Registrar has given him or her two reminders to pay such fee, or after the expiration of a period of three months from the date the fee became due, whichever is the earlier.
(3) For the purpose of satisfying himself or herself that a veterinary surgeon has ceased to practise veterinary medicine in Botswana, the Registrar shall notify, in writing, such veterinary surgeon of his or her intention to remove the veterinary surgeon's name from the Register, which notice shall be forwarded to the address recorded in the Register, or to any later address of which the Registrar has knowledge or notice, of the said veterinary surgeon, and this shall serve as adequate notice to the veterinary surgeon.
19. Restoring name of veterinary surgeon to Register
Where the Council has ordered that the name of a veterinary surgeon be struck off the Register permanently or for a specified period, the Council may, either of its own motion or on the application of the person concerned, and, in either case after holding such investigation (if any) as it considers necessary, order the name of that person to be restored to the Register either without fee or on payment of such fee, not exceeding the registration fee, as the Council may determine, and the Registrar shall give effect to any such order.
