Past and Present: The profession of speech-language pathology has been practiced in South Africa since the early 1940s. Other terms for the discipline are speech therapy and logopedics. The number of practicing professionals has always been small relative to the population size. At present, only slightly more than 900 speech-language pathologists and audiologists are registered with the Professional Board for Speech-Language Therapy and Audiology of the South African Medical and Dental Council, which is the licensing authority.

Professional training takes place at five universities. Two of the universities train in the Afrikaans language and three in the English language. The total number of graduates fluctuates annually between 80 and 100. The training reflects both British and North American educational models and draws on local experience. For example, as there is frequently only one professional in a particular geographical area, he or she needs to be equally well trained in both audiology and speech-language pathology.