Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group
The Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group is a Southern African volunteer Wikimedia User Group founded on 23 December 2025 and focused on documenting, preserving and expanding freely accessible knowledge about the histories, cultures, languages and political traditions of Southern Africa.
The group places particular emphasis on under-documented regions and topics in and around the Lubombo and Maloti mountain regions, which include Eswatini, South Africa and Lesotho.
MISSION
- Improve coverage of Southern African history (precolonial, colonial, and post-colonial) across Wikimedia projects, particularly Wikipedia
- Support multilingual knowledge creation in English, Siswati, Sesotho and Afrikaans
- Encourage ongoing improvement of Wikimedia content by enabling contributors to discover information, verify sources and update or expand articles through careful cross-referencing and fastidious editing
- Train new editors, researchers, photographers and translators
- Promote the mission of the Wikimedia movement
- Support community-based knowledge sharing and public edit-a-thorns
Geographic focus
- Eswatini
- South Africa (Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State)
- Lesotho
- Cross-border interlinked Southern African history (i.e. Maputaland-Lubombo region, Matabeleland, Ngoni Kingdom)
Vision and principles
[edit]This group operates on a volunteer basis and follows the values of the Wikimedia movement.
We maintain a specific geographic and thematic focus on the under-documented narratives of the Lubombo and Maloti mountain regions, encompassing Eswatini, Lesotho and relevant parts of South Africa.
We are committed to operating as a volunteer-led initiative in line with core Wikimedia values of neutrality, verifiability, free knowledge, openness and collaboration.
Specific activities will include research, writing and editing of articles, edit-a-thons, Wikimedia Commons, indigenous languages support and recruitments.
Documents
[edit]Active Wikimedia contributors
[edit]CONTRIBUTORS
1. ZAMA KHUMALO
Group Secretary
Username: User:ZS_Khumalo
Primary Projects:
Wikipedia (English), Wikimedia Commons, Meta-Wiki
Focus Areas:
Southern African history, Eswatini royal history, South African political biographies, media history, Nguni heritage and ethnography, research and content development
Joined: 2020
Completed Projects:
• (2025) Documenting the Precolonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini (R-RF-2508-19695)
2. TWIN MOSIA
Group Chairperson
Username: User:Ke Mang??
Primary Projects:
Wikipedia (Sesotho, Afrikaans, Setswana, Lozi, Zulu, English), Meta-Wiki, Commons, Wikidata
Focus Areas:
Content development, Sotho heritage researcher, event coordination, facilitator, museum curation, multilingual translation support, Free State and Lesotho
Joined: 2017
Completed Projects:
• (2023) We Are Women
• (2024) BaseSotho 200 Years Project Workshop
• (2025) BaSesotho 2.0 PHASE 1 (Bloemfontein, South Africa)
3. DIEKETSENG CINDI
Lead Coordinator
Username: User:Mmaditopo
Primary Projects:
Wikipedia
Focus Areas:
Content development, translation, Free State, Lesotho
Joined: 2024
4. PIET LOMBARD
Member
Username: User:SimonéDW
Role: Language support and Afrikaans translations
Joined: 2025
5. TUMELO MOKOENA
Member
Username: User:Mpipesi
Role: Language coordination and translation, Wikimedia Commons uploads and media documentation, Free State, Lesotho
Joined: 2024
List of Activities
[edit]- Articles Created
- Articles Improved
- Sesotho Translations
- Afrikaans Translations
- Siswati Translations
- Tsonga Translations
- Events
- Commons Uploads
- Research Projects
Contacts
[edit]| CONTACTS | |
|---|---|
|
Group Secretary |
Group Chairperson |
Group Email: Lubombomaloti@gmail.com
Share your ideas, thoughts and learn how to get involved.