What is your principal business activity?
Document translation services for the official South African languages.
Which language should I translate for my city/municipality/province?
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.
Do you only work with South Africa's official languages?
Yes, we exclusively specialise in translations for all 11 official languages of South Africa:
Do you work with audio files or interpretation?
No, unfortunately we can't help with those. Our focus is on written translation services.
What types of documents do you translate?
We translate a wide range of industry documents including business, legal, medical, mining, educational, newsletters and tech.
Do you offer specialised translations for specific industries?
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.
What file formats can you work with?
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 We can often convert unscanned PDFs back to MS Word if they were originally made in it.
Can you provide translations for websites and apps?
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 localisation for hreflang tags etc. you're welcome to put us in touch with your web designer.
How do you ensure the quality of translations?
We only work with specialist translators with a minimum of 10 years' high-level work experience and academic qualifications from accredited South African universities. All translations undergo thorough editorial checks and technical MS Word spelling checks, even for languages not natively supported in MS Office.
Are your translators certified?
Yes, our translators are highly qualified professionals with certifications from recognised institutions. We issue certificates verifying academic credentials and quality control compliance.
Do you guarantee meeting deadlines?
Yes, we never commit to deadlines until confirmed by the translator. We work exclusively with professionals who share our commitment to timely delivery.
Can I see samples of your translations?
90% of South Africans speak one of our translated languages as their first language. View our localised versions: IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, Afrikaans, Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Siswati, Tshivenḓa, IsiNdebele.
How can I request a quotation?
Email your document to info@iitranslation.com with languages and deadlines. We respond within 5 minutes during business hours.
South African Languages by Province (Census 2022)
| Language | SA | WC | EC | NC | FS | KZN | NW | GP | MP | LP |
| IsiZulu | 24.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 3.7 | 80 | 1.6 | 23.1 | 27.8 | 0.6 |
| IsiXhosa | 16.3 | 31.4 | 81.8 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Afrikaans | 10.6 | 41.2 | 9.6 | 54.6 | 10.3 | 1 | 5.2 | 7.7 | 3.2 | 2.3 |
| Sepedi | 10 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 55.5 |
| English | 8.7 | 22 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 14.4 | 1 | 9.2 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Setswana | 8.3 | 0.1 | 0 | 35.7 | 5.3 | 0 | 72.8 | 10.4 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| Sesotho | 7.8 | 1 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 72.3 | 0.6 | 5.9 | 13.1 | 2.3 | 0.8 |
| Xitsonga | 4.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0 | 3.1 | 7 | 10.6 | 17.3 |
| Siswati | 2.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 30.5 | 0.3 |
| Tshivenḓa | 2.5 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 17.4 |
| IsiNdebele | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 9.9 | 1.1 |
| Shona | 1.2 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.6 |
| Other | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Chichewa | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Portuguese | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Sign | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| Khoi. Nama & San | 0.01 | 0 | 0.01 | 0.17 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |