By May 1976 when the first general meeting was held, the constitution drawn up by SAAI members themselves was unanimously adopted and council members elected. At this meeting it was announced that SAAI had been invited by the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering to become a member. SAAI membership is divided into two main classes, Corporate and Associate members. The constitutional requirements for Corporate membership are academic training and practical experience in a field related to acoustics. Associate membership is available to encourage those with an interest in acoustics, but without formal academic training.
Membership is also available to students and sponsors.
We have over 100 members in South Africa as well as members in Namibia, Australia, Asia, Europe and North America. In order to encourage contact between members, technical meetings, symposia, and general meetings are held regularly. The Council invites speakers who are specialists in the fields of acoustics with which the SAAI is involved. These speakers are usually members of the Institute, but South Africa has often been honored by the presence of speakers from abroad. Committees of the council are involved in serving the community in matters of environmental noise control, traffic noise and legislation on noise.