Bybelgenootskap van Suid-Afrika

The Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA) celebrates its 190th anniversary on 23 August 2010.  On this day in 1820 the founding meeting of the South African Bible Society, an auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, took place in the then Government House under the chairmanship of the acting governor, Sir Rufane Donkin.

This small auxiliary grew to what we know today as the Bible Society of South Africa, a completely autonomous organisation which functions as a section 21 company not for profit.  The Society, with its head office in Bellville, is divided into 11 regions countrywide.

The Society was established in 1820 with the aim of ensuring that Bibles were available for the inhabitants of the Cape.  Today it remains the task of the Bible Society to provide affordable Bibles for everyone in their own language and in suitable formats so that all may receive the life-giving message of the Word.

Millions of Bibles in different languages and formats have already been made available for distribution in South Africa.  Since 1965, when the BSSA began to function as an autonomous organisation separate from the mother society in England, about 30 million Bibles have been distributed.

During 2009 the Bible Society distributed some 1,3 million Scriptures in 131 different languages throughout South Africa.  Of these, 846 299 were complete Bibles of which nearly 74% were standard Bibles (black hard cover) which are made available at less than publication costs.

The Bible Society is also responsible for the translation of the Bible into all of South Africa’s languages.  Bible translation is often referred to as the heart of Bible Society work.  The Bible Society has been involved with Bible translation in South Africa since the beginning.  The very first Bible book which appeared in a South African language was the Gospel of Luke which was translated into Tswana by Robert Moffat and printed in Cape Town in 1830.  The Bible Society provided the paper for this publication and contributed about R100 towards the printing costs.  In 1857 the Tswana Bible was published, the first complete Bible in a South African language.

Ten of South Africa’s official languages have a complete Bible available and the Bible Society was involved with each one of them.  One official language, Southern Ndebele, is still waiting for the complete Bible.  The translation is currently underway and the Bible Society hopes to launch this Bible within a few years.

“The completion of the Southern Ndebele Bible translation is of cardinal importance for the Church, for the development of the language and indeed for every speaker of the language,” says Rev Gerrit Kritzinger, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bible Society of South Africa.  “That’s why we decided to link the commemoration of the Bible Society’s 190th birthday in a very special way with the one language group that still doesn’t have a Bible in their own language, the Southern Ndebele.”

A special birthday project has been set up through which the Bible Society aims to raise R1 million for the completion of the Southern Ndebele Bible translation project.  People who are interested in supporting the project can visit www.biblesociety.givengain.org to make a contribution.  For more information, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or contact the nearest Bible Society office.

~ 18 August 2010 ~