2020 Inaugural Lectures

Pandemics are rare events, events that fundamentally disrupt the social and economic fibre of societies. COVID-19, the first global public health crisis to hit the world in a century, holds far-reaching consequences, not only for our present health and well-being, but for health care and its delivery, organization and financing, now and into the future.

In this lecture, I first outline the pre-existing inequalities in the South African health care landscape. I then proceed to use various analyses and evidence to illustrate the pandemic’s likely implications for South Africans’ health and well-being, highlighting the likely role of emotional support in curbing the impending increase in the country’s mental health deficit. I round out the lecture by reflecting on the various policy implications of the pandemic and its longer-term impacts on society.

The unprecedented rise in the use of technologies across all sectors during COVID-19 hastened South Africa's participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). However access and distributional challenges in South Africa remain core concerns amidst a volatile and complex global context. Psychology and psychological assessment in particular requires a rethinking within this time and space. This lecture will present a brief history of assessment internationally and locally to contextualize the need for a 4I=R2 framework for assessment in South Africa.

The 4I=R2 framework affords an opportunity for the discipline to advance beyond traditional assessment practices where the 4 I’s of Inclusion, Indigenisation, Innovation and Impact was discussed as necessary components for a relevant and responsive discipline. In so doing the lecture presented evidence where traditional forms of assessment are evolving in line with social contexts and technological developments. The extent to which this aids in addressing challenges in the South African assessment landscape with regards to theory, research, policy and practice was discussed together with what still needs to be done to meet the 4I=R2 vision.