isiNdebele transitions to Wikipedia’s main platform, expanding visibility for official SA languages

Since its launch in September 2023, the SWiP project has greatly advanced the presence of isiNdebele, which was absent from Wikipedia due to a lack of contributors. Previously confined to the Wikipedia Incubator – a platform designed to help develop new language projects before they are launched as independent, fully-fledged Wikipedia languages – due to a lack of content, isiNdebele now occupies a position on Wikipedia’s main platform, a significant milestone achieved within just 12 months. This accomplishment has expanded access to information in isiNdebele on the world’s largest free online encyclopaedia, providing a digital platform for language visibility and accessibility.

The SWiP project has driven a notable increase in the number of active isiNdebele editors on Wikipedia. Initially, there were only five editors working on isiNdebele content but, through SWiP’s targeted efforts, this number has increased to 30 editors. These dedicated editors have contributed continuously, meeting Wikipedia’s requirements to move isiNdebele from the Incubator to the main platform. Today, there are over 140 isiNdebele articles available on Wikipedia, reflecting the growth and sustainability of this digital language initiative.

Recognising these activities, Wikipedia approved the transition of isiNdebele from incubator to its main platform, joining the ranks of other official South African languages. 

Phases of the SWiP Project

The first phase of SWiP ran from September 2023 to October 2024, during which two-day Wikipedia authorship workshops were conducted across six regions, reaching eleven universities. The project also ran a writing competition from July to August 2024, aimed at encouraging consistent contributions to the development of South African languages on Wikipedia. This initiative motivated participants to actively create and improve content, thereby strengthening the presence and accessibility of these languages on the platform. 

Phase two of the project is set to run from November 2024 to October 2027. This phase extends its focus to Train-The-Trainer sessions, dedicated edit-a-thons and language support initiatives. This extension aims to further the project’s impact by building a sustainable and community-driven foundation for official South African official languages on Wikipedia. 

Train-The-Trainer sessions will empower the language community with the skills and resources needed to conduct Wikipedia authorship workshops independently, fostering a self-sustaining network of trainers who can continue content creation efforts beyond the project's official timeline. 

Normal SWiP workshops will further engage both new and experienced contributors, enhancing proficiency in creating and editing Wikipedia content while ensuring quality representation of official South African languages. 

To address each language’s unique needs, SWiP will provide tailored language support, offering resources and guidance on content creation on Wikipedia. 

Additionally, targeted edit-a-thons will encourage collaborative and intensive contributions, driving productivity and focusing on specific themes to amplify each language’s presence on the platform. 

Together, these initiatives will ensure both immediate and lasting growth in official South African language content on Wikipedia, promoting cultural preservation, enhancing language visibility, and fostering an inclusive environment for ongoing collaboration on the world’s largest online encyclopaedia.

Significant impact on official South African language representation on Wikipedia

In addition to the milestone reached with isiNdebele, the SWiP project has made substantial contributions to content in official South African languages. The project has trained 318 participants across the universities who have created 638 new articles and edited 2,730 existing articles, resulting in the addition of over 291,000 words, 1830 references, and 122 photos uploaded on Wikipedia Commons. These efforts have generated approximately 22.9 million article views in twelve months.

 "The SWiP project fosters language growth by helping underrepresented languages gain visibility and credibility online, " commented Mr Bobby Shabangu, President of Wikimedia ZA (the South African chapter of the Wikimedia movement). 

“PanSALB commends the significant achievement of incorporating isiNdebele into the main Wikipedia platform which was reached within just twelve months through the SWiP project. We believe that the development of a language is closely tied to its active usage. Therefore, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the speakers of isiNdebele who have shown initiative and commitment by participating in the SWiP project. Their contributions are essential for the continued development and preservation of the isiNdebele language. SWiP serves as evidence that 30 years post-democracy, historically marginalised languages possess adequate grammar, terminology, and jargon that contribute to the modernisation and enrichment of these languages.   Our continuous support for initiatives like SWiP reflects our commitment to promoting linguistic diversity and fostering a more inclusive nation where all languages commonly used by communities in South Africa enjoy parity of esteem,” expressed PanSALB’s CEO  

The SWiP is an important collaborative project that has seen key partners coming together to drive the digital ascent of one of the low-resource languages in our country. Digital ascent is noted in the literature as the capacity for a language to acquire digital functions and prestige, and for its speakers to increasingly acquire digital language competencies. It is imperative to cultivate digital nativism in our languages to avert the digital language death. Through the SWiP partnership, we have managed to secure the digital future of isiNdebele.

Learn more about SWiP here.

About SADiLaR

SADiLaR is a national centre supported and established by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation in 2016 as one of thirteen national research infrastructures within the broad South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap (SARIR). After a two-year incubation period, it was formally launched as a research infrastructure in August 2019, with the North-West University (NWU) functioning as the host and hub of a network of linked research nodes based at different universities and institutions.

The centre has an enabling function, with a focus on all official languages of South Africa, supporting research and development in the domains of language technologies and language-related studies in the humanities and social sciences. It supports the creation, management and distribution of digital language resources, as well as applicable software, which are freely available for research purposes.

SADiLaR stakeholders include academic scholars and professionals in all domains of humanities and social sciences, language technologies, natural language processing, and computer science, as well as potential end-users in education, business and industry.