Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Phase II:Documenting the Precolonial and Colonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini (ID: 23749582)

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Applicant Details

Main Wikimedia username. (required)

ZS Khumalo

Organization

N/A

If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)

N/A

Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)

Main Proposal

1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.

Phase II: Documenting the Precolonial and Colonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini

2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.

2026-04-05 - 2026-08-05

4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)

Eswatini

5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)

Not applicable

6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)

This project builds directly on the Wikimedia Rapid Fund project [1] "Documenting the Precolonial History of Eswatini (R-RF-2508-19695)"]. It aims to systematically complete and extend that work by consolidating and expanding the coverage of the History of Eswatini on Wikipedia from the precolonial to the early colonial period. It aims to consult archives and academic materials at the University of Eswatini Library and Eswatini National Archives.

Phase I, using archival and academic materials primarily from the Wits University History Workshop, established a structured, interlinked and well-referenced foundation for the Eswatini’s precolonial history project (R-RF-2508-19695). That project created, expanded and cross-linked articles on royal biographies, royal lineages, frontier settlements, maternal dynasties, ethno-historical groups and early Swazi political formation. It also showed the formation of the Swazi people through enthno-linguistic groups like Embo, Embo-Nguni, Tsonga-Nguni, Tembe-Thonga and Embo-Dlamini and the interconnection between the former Tembe Kingdom and Kingdom of Eswatini.

Phase II will conclude the precolonial work started by Phase I and will extend research to the Eswatini National Archives (Lobamba) and University of Eswatini Library (Kwaluseni) to cover the full precolonial and early colonial history of Eswatini from the era 1200 to 1920.

The University of Eswatini Library contains the J. S. M. Matsebula Collection (around 170 items) that contains documents, including correspondence, manuscripts, speeches, rare historical accounts (such as correspondence from King Sobhuza II and British officials) and oral-histories (i.e. Swaziland Oral History Project). These materials are very important in fully documenting Eswatini’s history, and improving verifiability and accuracy.

This will enable the completion the precolonial Swazi era and entry into the period of early colonial transformation and the late 19th-century royal succession and resistance movements.

The project will continue to create, improve and expand articles on key rulers, notable figures, royal institutions, political formation, military structures and early colonial-era events, including the British protectorate (1894-1906; Swaziland Convention) and South African administration (1906-1920). The project will also document and photograph key sites (e.g. Mbilaneni, Zombodze, Lubombo Mountains, etc) within the Kingdom of Eswatini for article illustrative content purposes.

CHALLENGES BEING TACKLED 1.) Eswatini's history is underrepresented on Wikipedia.

2.) Key historical materials about Eswatini are dispersed across multiple institutions, including the University of Eswatini Library, Eswatini National Archives, South African universities, government and private collections across the world.

3.) Many existing articles related to Eswatini’s history suffer from insufficient citations, limited cross-linking and inconsistent historical narratives.

4.) Key historical sites, royal centres and institutions within Eswatini are under-photographed or undocumented on Wikimedia Commons and this lack of illustrative content affects their readability in general.

MY APPROACHES: 1.) The project will conduct a 4-months structured research at the Eswatini National Archives (Lobamba) and the University of Eswatini Library (Kwaluseni), with a focus on peer-reviewed academic works, archival manuscripts, correspondence, speeches and historical records - particularly from the J. S. M. Matsebula Collection, which contains more than 150 items.

2.) Creating new articles and expanding existing ones related to precolonial Swazi historical an political formation, royal lineages, key rulers, notable figures, royal institutions, military structures, governance systems as well as early colonial-era events, treaties, colonial administrations and resistance movements (c.1894–1920)

3.) Improving citation quality and historical accuracy

4.) Photographing key sites, uploading on Wiki Commons and on Wikipedia articles.

7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.

The planned activities will be done in Four Phases

Phase 1 (April 2026): Archival research at Univ. of Eswatini Library (Kwaluseni), focusing on the J.S.M. Matsebula Collection and also drafting, improving or expanding articles.

Phase 2 (May - June 2026): Research at Eswatini National Archives (Lobamba). Photography of key historical sites (Mbilaneni, Zombodze). Expanding and creating articles

•Phase 3 (July-August 2026): Finalizing all articles, ensuring cross-linking, uploading images to Commons and quality review.

Phase 4 (late July and early August 2026): Tracking metrics on XTools, preparing final report for Fluxx and Meta-Wiki.

8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.

Zama Steven Khumalo (Wikimedia username: ZS Khumalo) is the project lead and sole contributor for this project.

Zama Khumalo is from the village of Badplaas, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

He is an experienced freelance journalist and dedicated Wikipedia editor.

He started as a campus news reporter for the UJ Observer between March 2008 and July 2010 while studying Linguistics at the University of Johannesburg.

In 2011, he completed a Writing the News short course at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ). He worked in press journalism from 2008 to 2022, contributing news articles and photographs to various South African publications like Daily Sun, Sunday Sun, Jozi Commuters, Sunday World, Highveld Chronicle and Daily Maverick.

In 2016, Zama co-founded the now inactive but award-winning online provincial newspaper 013NEWS, which focused on investigative journalism and exposing corruption in Mpumalanga.

In April 2020, he joined Wikipedia and focused on South African liberation history, the media and Eswatini royal history.

He is currently co-authoring a book called, 'History of Embhuleni' with Sabelo Fakude. He is an avid reader of history and politics, attended the African Investigative Journalism Conference at Wits University in 2021, and received a scholarship to attend Wiki Indaba 2024 for the first time.

On Wikimedia projects, Zama is an Extended Confirmed Wikipedia editor and a Reviewer of Pending Changes, which highlights his enthusiasm and experience with content quality.

Location: Badplaas, Mpumalanga, South Africa

9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)

This project is primarily implemented by one independent Wikipedia editor, myself and the focus is on improving and expanding content related to the precolonial and colonial history of the Kingdom of Eswatini.

The main target participants are Wikimedia editors and contributors interested in African history, Eswatini history and Southern African precolonial research.

It also targets Wikipedia readers in general and researchers, students and local historians (in particular) who may benefit from improved, well-referenced content and may contribute to future edits.

Engagement before and during the project Since this is a solo research project, engagement will focus on community knowledge sharing, like Meta-Wiki documentation and updates as well as Fluxx report.

During research at the Eswatini National Archives and University of Eswatini Library, the project will seek guidance from archivists and historians (when possible) to confirm accuracy and source relevance.

Project learnings will inform future Wikimedia events.

10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)

No

10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.

N/A

11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.

This project was developed through continuous observation and editing work within the Wikipedia community, especially on topics related to Eswatini history and South African liberation history.

Over time, while researching and editing Wikipedia articles, I noticed major fragmentation, gaps, poor referencing and limited cross-linking across Eswatini-related pages.

Although the project was not formally discussed with a specific group or community prior to drafting the proposal, it emerged organically from ongoing editing work and from a clear recognition of the need for a structured, research-based approach to improving the coverage of Eswatini history on Wikipedia.

STEPS TAKEN TO INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY: 1.) Continuous editing and improvement on Wikipedia 2.) Documenting progress on Meta-Wiki 3.) The project idea and progress will be documented on the Meta-Wiki project page to allow community members to review, comment and collaborate.

ALIGNMENT WITH EXISTING WIKIMEDIA PROJECTS 1.) This proposal builds on my previous Rapid Fund project (R-RF-2508-19695) and is aligned with ongoing work by the Wikimedia Foundation globally to improve content of under-represented communities.

12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial

13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)

Culture, heritage or GLAM

14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Digital Access

15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)

Innovate in Free Knowledge

Learning and metrics

17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)

This is what I wish to learn. 1.) How can archival and oral history sources (i.e JSM Matsebula Collection, Swaziland Oral History Project) be effectively transformed into high-quality encyclopedic content on Wikipedia? 2.) What are the best practices for improving the structure, referencing and interlinking of a fragmented topic on Wikipedia? 3.) How can one dedicated editor sustainably digitalise a whole national history (precolonial to early colonial) on Wikipedia? 4.) Will the Eswatini National Archives agree to release certain historic images under free licence? 5.) How will photos taken during this project help the image content of Wikipedia articles? 6.) What strategies will best improve the visibility and reliability of underrepresented African history topics on Wikimedia?

18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)

Number of participants, editors, and organizers
Other Metrics	Target	Optional description
Number of participants	1	This project is primarily a solo research and editing initiative led by the applicant. The only active participant in the grant activities is the project lead, who will carry out all research, writing and media documentation.
Number of editors	1	This project is a solo research and output initiative by the applicant.
Number of organizers	1	The applicant himself

Number of content contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia project	Number of content created or improved
Wikipedia	150
Wikimedia Commons	30
Wikidata
Wiktionary
Wikisource
Wikimedia Incubator
Translatewiki
MediaWiki
Wikiquote
Wikivoyage
Wikibooks
Wikiversity
Wikinews
Wikispecies
Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia

Optional description for content contributions.

150 articles will be created, improved and expanded within a 4-month period, while over 30 images will be loaded on Wiki Commons.

19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)

No

Main Open Metrics Data
Main Open Metrics	Description	Target
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A

20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)

XTools Contributions and Edit History

Financial proposal

21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)

Budget.pdf

22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)

48000 ZAR

22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.

2973.01 USD

By submitting your proposal/funding request you confirm that you have read and agree to the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy, and the Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

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Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
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Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).

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