The Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) and the isiXhosa Bible Review Committee of the Bible Society of South Africa on Thursday, 16 April 2026, handed over the revised isiXhosa Bible to the printing department of the Bible Society of South Africa.
The bible revision forms part of PanSALB’s continued commitment to preserve, protect and promote multilingualism and the development and use of official languages in the country.
Amongst other institutional initiatives, the verification and authentication of terminology is one of the programmes aimed at ensuring that institutions comply to the principles and the regulation of the spelling and orthography rules of all official languages. It is a significant programme in line with the institutional mandate to ensure that formal and standardised language is used accordingly to ensure the effective utilisation of the country’s language resources.
Key PanSALB structure members such as the isiXhosa National Language Bodies (XNLB) who oversees the role of compliance and the use of correct official languages attended the hand-over. Other members in attendance includes the South African Council of Churches and executives of the Bible Society of South Africa. The isiXhosa Bible Review Committee of the Bible Society of South Africa also honoured PanSALB with a certificate to acknowledge the organisation’s contribution in the development of the revised isiXhosa bible.
The hand over was a significant milestone to communicate the role of the spelling and orthography rules of isiXhosa as the guiding official and standardised tool to official writing. Adhering to the revised isiXhosa spelling and orthography rules in the Bible is very crucial for the development and standardised use of the language, as the Bible is the most read document in African languages literature in South Africa. This revision, therefore, will have an impact on the improvement and promotion of proper isiXhosa language use, noting that the Bible is the same document that established the first isiXhosa orthography and developed it throughout. It is therefore appreciated that this document (the Bible) continues to lead the promotion of isiXhosa spelling and orthography rules.
PanSALB continues to support the use of spelling and orthography rules of all the official languages to guide the formal and standard writing of all official languages in the country to promote the furtherance of multilingualism.
About Pansalb
The Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) is a constitutional body mandated to create conditions for the recognition, implementation and furtherance of multilingualism in the Republic of South Africa, and the development of previously marginalized languages.
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