SAGA

The South African Go Association is the national organization responsible for promoting and developing Go in South Africa. SAGA has been affiliated to the International Go Federation since 1993.

SAGA provides various services and infrastructure to the clubs around the country, as well as obtaining sponsorship for developing Go in schools and disadvantaged communities. Many beginners benefit from the existence of SAGA even though they do not know it at the time – joining SAGA is your way to make sure you’re not just draining the system, but rather helping to support and expand Go in South Africa.

If you want to learn more about SAGA, contact the SAGA secretary.

Joining SAGA/renewing your membership

SAGA memberships are valid for calendar years (1 Jan-31 Dec), with membership expiring if the fee for a year is not paid by 31 March. No discounts are currently offered for membership for a partial year, so it makes the most sense to join as early in a year as possible.

Certain tournaments are only open to paid-up SAGA members, and others provide discounted rates for SAGA members. In addition, players only earn credit points for years that they are SAGA members. If you would like to join SAGA but cannot afford the fees you may apply to have your fee reduced. All applications will be considered. If you decide to join, the recommended payment method is a direct deposit into SAGA’s bank account (details below) – use your surname and initials as a reference, and please email proof of payment to the SAGA treasurer and membership secretary. If you can not make a direct deposit into SAGA’s account, please contact the SAGA treasurer for assistance.

Bank details

SAGA’s bank details are as follows, if you need to make a payment or deposit. If you do make a deposit, please use a clear reference and inform the treasurer and membership secretary of your payment.

Account holder: South African Go Association
Bank: Nedbank
Branch: The Mall, Rosebank
Acc no: 1977 004 199
Branch no: 197705
Type: Current account
Swift code: NEDSZAJJXXX

SAGA Ranks

SAGA employs the ranks calculated by the South African Go Clubs website, available on this page. These ranks are used to determine handicaps for club and tournament games.

Additional information

Affiliations: SAGA is a member organization of the International Go Federation (IGF), and as such is subject to all their rules and regulations, including the IGF Anti-doping policy.

Historical Notes

From a Facebook post: “Possibly the start of Go in RSA was the group that started in the SPL offices (Sandton City) about 1974. No doubt there must have been isolated Go players somewhere around the country before that time, so this is a tentative claim. However, that original 1974 group traces a continuous history to the present. For reference, the late Georg Bernfeld wrote a brief history in the SAGJ (Vol. 3 No. 2 Winter 1995).”