History

Origins of SFFSA (née SFSA)

In early 1969 Tex Cooper of Pretoria became interested in the possibility of founding a South African Science Fiction Club.

He wrote to a letter, "Calling S.F. Fans", to the Sunday Times newspaper expressing his desire to form such a club. This was published on 13 April 1969. There were 37 replies from all over South Africa.

A meeting was held at the home of Tex Cooper in Pretoria on 6 June 1969. Nine people attended, and a further nine extended their apologies. At the meeting a decision was made to form a club, and a temporary committee was elected.

A "thank you" letter was sent to the Sunday Times. It was printed under the heading, "S.F. Club Formed" on 29 June 1969. This resulted in another 25 letters from interested people.

The committee held meetings at the homes of members, preparing the stage for the first AGM. Two newsletters were published during this time.

The first annual general meeting of the newly-created Science Fiction South Africa club was held in Johannesburg on 3 October 1969. The first committee was elected, a lending library with 200 books was established and newsletter #3 was published.

Club Name

The minutes of the inaugural meeting, held at the home of Tex Cooper on 6 June 1969, was titled South African SF Fan Club. Two options for the name of the club were proposed at the meeting:

1. SFSA (Rick Johnson)

2. Sci-Fi SA (Simon Scott)

At the second meeting, voting was inconclusive (11 votes each). At the first AGM (3 October 1969), held at the home of Simon Scott, the name S.F.S.A. was adopted by 18 votes to 11.

Mark Floyd wrote (2nd Newsletter):

Regarding the suggested names, I feel than neither of the two titles are fully representative as today's trend is most certainly veering towards the 'light fantastical'. SFSA is concise, but maybe too concise. It is likely that I am among the youngest of the Club, but as time passes there will be more emphasis on the fantastic aspect of SF. The words 'Science Fiction' and their abbreviation 'Sci-Fi' are reminiscent of little green men and H.G. Wells' school of thought. Besides, man has reached the Moon, so space travel no longer holds the mystery of 10 years ago. We are in a progressive age, so why not be progressive? It is my contention that the word "fantasy" should be incorporated in the title of the club formed along modern lines. Furthermore, the trend in reading habits favours not only the hypothetical, but the unknown.

Nicholas Shears responded in the 3rd newsletter:

I must disagree with Mark Floyd about the name of the club. I do not see why the word 'Fantasy' should be used. Fantasy is now hopelessly combined with S.F. The latter is used more than the former in the majority of works and should be the focal point of the title. To use both would cause a very clumsy and unwieldy title. As for saying that 'Fantasy' is being progressive, science, and not fantasy, will be the foundation of future generations, and to say that S.F. writers do not contribute to this or predict future world events would be to defy proven facts.

Newsletter 4 (Bernie Ackerman):

I would also like to drop the Fan from the name and rather than use 'Club' would like to see 'Society'. To me Fantasy is even more reminiscent of little green men and BEM. What about S.A.S.F.S/A. South African Speculative Fiction Society or Association?

The Editor replied:

The use of the term 'Fantasy' was discussed at the A.G.M., and it was decided to omit it in the Club name, along with the word 'fan.'

The name Science Fiction South African, along with the acronym S.F.S.A. (later adopted simply as SFSA) remained. But the notion of acknowledging the Fantasy element and Fantasy fans refused to go away.

In January 2006, the suggestion to incorporate Fantasy into the official name of the club once once again proposed. The split between Fantasy and hardcore Science Fiction fans was almost 50-50, whilst many members enjoyed both genres. "Fantasy" was added unofficially in various communications over the next few years, until the name was officially changed from Science Fiction South Africa (S.F.S.A.) to Science Fiction and Fantasy South Africa (SFFSA) in 2009. Probe 150 (November 2009) was the first to use the acronym SFFSA, and to record the website as www.sffsa.org.za.

More on the club history

History of SFSA and N3F Writeup

A Brief Early History of SFSA by Simon Scott

In early 1969 Tex Cooper of Pretoria became interested in the possibility of founding a South African sf club as the result of some correspondence with an American, Dorothy Jones, who was a member in California of N3F.

He wrote to a national Sunday newspaper expressing his desire to form such a club and solicited public response - there were 37 replies.

On a cold winter night in June, nine brave souls travelled to Tex Cooper's Pretoria home and discussed sci-fi and the possibility of forming a club.

A "thank you" letter was sent to the newspaper and this resulted in another 25 letters from interested people.

The first annual general meeting of the newly-created Science Fiction South Africa club was held in Johannesburg in October that year and the first committee was elected. A lending library with 200 books was established and a one-page newsletter was published.

A number of weekend meetings were held at members' homes and guest speakers were invited to discuss assorted subjects.

The second year - 1970 - saw a wide range of meetings and the publication of the first "Probe", SFSA's clubzine.

And the following year the club launched its annual SF short story competition with some modest cash prizes.

Teenage member Nick Shears published his own SF effort called "Entropian". Several get-togethers were organised and films shown.

However, the next three years saw SFSA suffering from a general malaise, apathy, you name it. Tex Cooper, writing in Probe, warned that SFSA would come to a close if members didn't start becoming more interested in the running of the club.

In 1975, SFSA started getting to its feet again with more meetings and film sessions.

Probe, though, was coming out less regularly. There were only four meetings in 1976 and two Probes. Planned monthly meetings of the third Saturday of each month were organised in 1977 (a format which has since been maintained).

And in 1978, SFSA held its first convention in Johannesburg at the University of the Witwatersrand. Several hundred attended and there were plenty of SF films and speakers to enjoy. The convention has since become an annual event, largely organised by SFSA committee members.

During 1979 a central Johannesburg venue was found for the monthly meetings - at the Total House Gallery - where films, talks and SF quizzes were arranged on a regular basis. The average turnout at the monthly Total House meetings ranged between 25 and 40 people. Every third monthly meeting became a Pretoria meeting to cater for members from that area.

1979 was also the 10th anniversary of SFSA and Probe continued to be brought out on a regular quarterly basis by editor Gail Brunette.

SFSA entered its third decade in 1980 (!) with the "usual" - convention, short story competition, films, speakers, and so on. And the club could also boast 100 paid-up members.

Suggestions were again voiced about starting up chapters in other parts of the country with little success.

In 1981 SFSA members finally visited the Johannesburg planetarium; discovered the convention was becoming easier to run; continued to add to the library; introduced a trophy for the short story competition - the "Nova" - and brought out "The Best of South African Science Fiction", volume 1.