Madlanga Commission declared SA word of the year 2026 2026 social media winner: clock it
SASL sign of the year winner: oh, i see
#SAWordoftheYear
On 16 October 2026, the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), in partnership with media research company Focal Points, announced the 2026 South African Word of the Year. After carefully considering a range of words, terms, and expressions, "Madlanga Commission" emerged as the most-used term in 2026 and the winner. It is the Word of the Year, prevailing over other notable contenders such as Gender-Based Violence, Illegal Immigration and March and March. The 2026 SA Word of the Year for Social Media is the phrase "Clock it," chosen from a shortlist that included Abahambe, Nikhona?, Diabolical and Gone Kanje, among others.
PanSALB conducted the selection process by shortlisting candidates based on authentic language usage. Focal Points analysed frequency data and monitored keywords used extensively in reputable print, broadcast, and online media. "Madlanga Commission" emerged as the most prominent keyword, accounting for 47% (41,737 clip count) of the recorded coverage across the six monitored shortlisted terms. The Commission was established on 23 July 2025 to investigate allegations Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made on 6 July 2025. A year after its establishment, the Madlanga Commission continues to attract public attention, with South Africans following the proceedings closely across a broad range of media. From a linguistic perspective, the commission also brought interpreters' work into the spotlight, with their skill and flair highlighting the complexity of interpreting in high-stakes legal proceedings. This underscored the importance of precise terminology and appropriate language choices in criminal and civil proceedings, and of ensuring people can access justice in their own languages.
The runners-up for this category were Gender-Based Violence at 15% (12,865 clip count) and Illegal Immigration accounting for 12% (10,703 clip count). These terms capture the major events and societal issues that shaped public discourse in the country over the past 12 months.
On social media, “Clock It" dominated expressions, representing 85% of the recorded coverage across seven social-media terms shortlisted. Social media users use "clock it" to express strong agreement, acknowledge someone's insight, or expose concealed truths. The term is said to have originated in the mid-to-late twentieth century in New York City’s Black LGBTQ+ underground ballroom and drag culture, where it referred to noticing or revealing something someone wanted to conceal.
The South African Sign Language (SASL) Sign of the Year is the sign for “Oh, I see”, which was up against the signs for ‘Obligation ’ and ‘Suspect’. This category is determined by the National Language Body (NLB) for South African Sign Language, which is a statutory structure of PanSALB responsible for the standardisation, verification and authentication of SASL.
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