About Us
History
From incarceration to empowerment.
Cape Mental Health was founded in 1913 following an international wave of developments in mental health care and a dramatic change in the treatment of mental illness.
Historically, people with mental disabilities were treated with fear and loathing. They were kept in chains; thrown into prisons with lepers, criminals and murderers; subjected to corporal punishment, shock treatment, bloodletting; or hidden away by families who considered them a shameful secret.
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The mental health wave gradually shifted from hospitalisation and institutionalisation to today’s model of encouraging those with mental disability to function within the community through counselling, support, and rehabilitation.
As the oldest mental health organisation in South Africa and a founding member of the World Federation for Mental Health (formed in London in 1948), Cape Mental Health is proud of the ground-breaking work it has done in the past 106 years, especially in poorly resourced communities.
Our organisation has grown to encompass 24 different projects and programmes that focus on promoting, facilitating and providing proactive mental health care services various spheres under the mental health umbrella.
The World Dignity Project
Cape Mental Health aligns with The World Dignity Project,
a movement to end stigma and ensure dignity and hope for vulnerable people.
Awards
Sexual Abuse Victim Empowerment (SAVE) awarded the Zero Project Innovative Practice Award in 2015
Special Education and Care Centre awarded the Best ECD Programme that supports Babies and Young Children with Disabilities at the South African Early Childhood Development Awards in 2016
Training Workshops Unlimited awarded the Zero Project Innovative Practice Award for its intensive development and career path training programme for adults with intellectual disability in 2017
Meet the Management Team
Prof Dr Ingrid Daniels
Chief Executive Officer
Santie Terreblanche
Deputy Executive Officer
Carol Bosch
Deputy Executive Officer
Anastasia Lakey
Management Secretary
Willemien Buys
Administration Manager
Ridhwaan Moola
Donor Development Manager
Mpilo Khumalo
Special Education & Care Centres Manager
Charnell Andrew
Social Work Manager
Wayne Cloete
Social Work Manager
Cindy Manho
Social Work Manager
Vusi Ndkuya
Training Workshops Unlimited General Manager
Keamogetse Mokgadi
Access to Justice Manager
René Minnies
Psychosocial Rehabilitation Programme Manager
Warrick Williams
Finance Manager
Board Members 2024/25
The Board of Cape Mental Health is comprised of a representative cross-section
in terms of race and gender, and includes individuals with disabilities.
Dr Amelia Jones
President
Prof. Johannes John-Langba
Vice President
Ken Sturgeon
Vice President
Tracy Fortune
Chairperson
Gary Pond
Vice Chairperson
Stuwart Musekiwa
Treasurer
David Lotz
Committee Member
Nina Septoe
Committee Member
Shona Sturgeon
Committee Member
Kurt Pretorius
For consumers with intellectual disability
Dylan Rademeyer
For consumers with psychosocial disability
18 & 22 Ivy Street, Observatory
Cape Town, South Africa
Phone: +27 (0) 21 447 9040
Email: info@cmh.org.za
