A glimpse into AA’s history: A 1944 Reader’s Digest cover and an article about alcoholism are among the historical material illustrating the type of literature that helped spread awareness of recovery and ultimately played a role in the story of Alcoholics Anonymous in South Africa.
For 80 years, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) South Africa has offered people struggling with alcohol dependence a path toward recovery, with the fellowship now reaching communities across KwaZulu-Natal and the country.
As AA South Africa marks its 80th anniversary, its KZN Area comprises 105 groups across seven delegate areas, with an estimated 2,300 people attending meetings. The anniversary year will officially begin on October 18, 2026, the date associated with the formation of South Africa’s first AA group in Johannesburg in 1946.
For Alexis R, chairperson of the AA 80th Birthday Committee, the milestone is about far more than marking the passage of time.“It is a celebration of an organisation that has saved thousands of lives including our own,” she said.
“It is akin to spiritual occasion and will be revered by its members in SA.”AA's South African story began in 1946, when two South Africans independently discovered the fellowship through Reader’s Digest and contacted its headquarters in New York.
