The SADiLaR-Wikipedia-PanSALB (SWiP) project is an important collaborative project that has seen key partners coming together to drive the digital ascent of isiNdebele, one of the low-resource languages in the country.

This collaborative initiative by the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) at the North-West University (NWU), Wikimedia South Africa (Wikimedia ZA), and the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) aims to strengthen the presence of official South African languages by building language communities equipped to create, edit and manage content on Wikipedia.

Through a series of practical workshops across the country, SWiP has successfully trained participants from universities across South Africa in digital authorship skills, thereby boosting the digital footprint of official South African languages and content online.

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* 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.

Thanks to the SWiP project, there has been a notable increase in the number of active isiNdebele editors on Wikipedia – from only five to 30 editors. Today, there are more than 140 isiNdebele articles available on Wikipedia, reflecting the growth and sustainability of this digital language initiative.

SWiP on the go

During SWiP’s first phase, from September 2023 to October 2024, two-day Wikipedia authorship workshops were conducted at 11 universities. SWiP also ran a writing competition from July to August 2024, 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 to further the project’s impact by building a sustainable and community-driven foundation.

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

Significant impact on language representation

The SWiP project has also made substantial contributions to official South African languages content.

The project has trained 318 participants across participating universities, who in turn have created 638 new articles and edited 2 730 existing articles, resulting in the addition of more than 291 000 words, 1 830 references and 122 photos uploaded on Wikipedia. These efforts have generated approximately 22,9 million article views in 12 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 Wikimedia movement).

“PanSALB commends the significant achievement of incorporating isiNdebele into the main Wikipedia platform in just 12 months,” said PanSALB’s CEO Lance Schultz.

“We believe that the development of a language is closely tied to its active usage, and 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. 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.” Learn more about SWiP here.

Learn more about SADiLaR here.

*The Wikipedia Incubator is a platform designed to help develop new language projects before they are launched as independent, fully-fledged Wikipedia languages.