80 years of mutuality and exclusivity
8 July 1941 :
Small beginnings
“ Unless commitment is made , there are only promises and hopes ; but no plans .” Peter F . Drucker , author and educator
With the world at war , eight dentists banded together to make plans for a provident society that would care for its members during times of international upheaval and times of peace . Drs Kessel , Forsyth , Speck , Lawson , Fielding , Fraser , Pedley and Gottlich established a sickness benefit society they named the Professional Provident Society .
1 August 1941
Member one
“ Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan , in which we must fervently believe , and upon which we must vigorously act . There is no other route to success .” Pablo Picasso , painter
1941
Small beginnings
1941
Member one
It followed on this proposal made to the 1940 meeting of the Federal Council of the Dental Association of South Africa :
“ That a mutual sickness and accident scheme on similar lines to that of the Dentists ’ Provident Society in the UK be adopted by the Dental Association of South Africa , that a committee consisting of Drs Frizell , Fraser , Speck and Randall be formed and that they examine details of the scheme , and if possible , submit a report to the Federal Council .”
Born in the Free State in 1895 , Dr Gordon Alexander Fraser served with the South African forces in World War I . When he later qualified as a dentist after the war , he was a man intimately familiar with the ravages of it . It is no surprise that he played a major role in the establishment of PPS , and he was one of the four first dentists to join on 1 August 1941 . In recognition of his indefatigable efforts to form PPS , he was accorded the honour of being registered as Member Number One .
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