MBOMBELA – MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Sibongile Manana and her counterpart MEC for the Department of Education, Regina Mhaule, received the soon to be launched IsiNdebele trilingual and monolingual dictionaries.

The editor in chief for both dictionaries Ms Sponono Mahlangu and the chairperson for the IsiNdebele National Language Unit (NLU), Mr PJ Masilela both representatives of the IsiNdebele NLU Board presented the dictionaries to both MEC’s.

The board has been working hard to ensure the promotion of the IsiNdebele language in the Province.

The Unit published its first isiNdebele bilingual dictionary in 2006 and has now completed the monolingual and trilingual dictionaries seven years after the launch of the bilingual dictionary.

MEC Manana appreciated the unit for work well done, indicating that the dictionaries came at the right time where the province and more particularly her department is busy with the promotion of the provincial language bill whose aim is to promote the IsiSwati and IsiNdebele languages.

“We are quite excited and proud of the work done by the Unit, it shows that we are indeed progressing in fulfilling our mandate of promoting our predominant provincial languages. This is indeed a great story to tell,” Manana continued.

Mr Masilela also expressed his gratitude to the department for the support given towards the production of the dictionaries, he also called upon both departments to show further support in promoting the dictionaries and the IsiNdebele language by ensuring that the dictionaries are available in all schools and libraries across the

Province for easy access for learners, language practitioners, teachers and the community at large.

The dictionaries will be launched officially on March 28 in Kameelrivier, GaMorwe Nkangala.