FAQ

Document translation services for the official South African languages.

This is the question we're asked the most. You can find language demographics for Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria on their dedicated pages.

We've included a resource Table of South African Languages by Province 2022, at the end of this FAQ updated with Census 2022 data. i.e. you will see that isiZulu is spoken by 23% of Gauteng, 80% of KZN and 28% of Mpumalanga.

In summary 2022 Census for the whole of South Africa is: isiZulu: 24.4%, isiXhosa 16.3%, Afrikaans 10.6%, Sepedi 10%, English 8.7%, Setswana 8.3%, Sesotho 7.8%, Xitsonga 4.7%, Siswati 8.8%, Tshivenḓa 2.5% and isiNdebele at 1.7% of the national population.

No, we specialise in providing dedicated document translation services exclusively for the 11 official written languages of South Africa: isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Sesotho sa Leboa (Sepedi), Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Siswati, Tshivenḓa and isiNdebele.

No, unfortunately we can't help with those. Our focus is on written translation services.

We translate a wide range of industry documents including business, legal, medical, mining, educational, newsletters and tech.

Yes, we provide specialised translations for various industries including legal: PAIA manuals, official documents, court documents, employment contracts, fees policies, application forms, lease agreements and company manuals; medical: ICFs, participant information leaflets; mining: SLPs, community engagement publications; educational materials, and more.

Supported file formats: Word: docx, doc; PowerPoint: pptx; Excel: xlsx; InDesign: indd, inx; Text: txt; Web: html; App: xml and CSV. We can often convert unscanned PDFs back to MS Word if they were originally made in it.

Yes, we offer translation services for websites, apps, and digital content in html, csv or xml to help you reach multilingual audiences online. If you're unfamiliar with html localization for hreflang tags etc. you're welcome to put us in touch with your web designer.

We only work with specialist translators with a minimum of 10 years' high-level work experience and academic qualifications from accredited South African universities. We work with the same translators who regularly receive overwhelming positive feedback from first language clients. We have been working with a few for over a decade and have a wealth of first language expertise to draw on.

All our translations undergo thorough editorial checks and a barrage of technical MS Word spelling checks to ensure accuracy and clarity. We even provide these for local languages like Sesotho, Xitsonga, Siswati, Tshivenḓa and isiNdebele that are not currently supported in MS Office. As us for details.

We work with all 11 official written languages of South Africa to an international technical standard.

Yes, our translators are highly qualified professionals with certifications and qualifications from recognised institutions. We issue certificates to signoff on their academic credentials, relevant work experience and engaging with QC checks on all technical translation projects.

Yes, we are committed to meeting our clients' expectations and will never commit to a deadline until it is confirmed with the relevant translator. We only work with professionals with the same commitment to delivery. We are always good to sign on strict penalties in any SLA agreement.

Yes, for the 90% of South Africans who speak a second language you can get a good idea of the quality to expect for any of the 11 South African languages. Simply click the translate button on the top right of our website and choose your language.

We take client confidentiality seriously and have robust security measures in place to ensure the safety and privacy of your documents. We are always ready to sign non-disclosure agreements to protect your intellectual property.

We accept EFT bank payments. With regular clients we work with purchase orders and 30 day payments.

Yes, we have a portfolio of projects for local and international clients that are in the public domain that we are free to share. However, in the same respect that we will not give your details to future clients, we will never give out contact or project information to potential clients because our projects are run strictly confidentially.

Yes, we offer translation services not only for clients within South Africa but also for international clients who require translations into or from any of the South African languages.

Our focus on the South African languages coupled with our commitment to quality and deadlines set us apart as a leading translation agency in South Africa.

You can reach us by email at info@iitranslation.com or by phone at +27-21-685-2383. Our office hours are from Monday to Friday, 07:30 - 17:00.

Simply email us your document at info@iitranslation.com with details of the languages required and any deadlines. We aim to respond to quotation requests within five minutes during business hours.