South African Wikimedian, Bobby Shabangu, has become the first African to be appointed to the Wikimedia Foundation Board; The organisation at the steering wheel of the Wikimedia movement, a global community of contributors to the Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia.
Founded in 2001, Wikipedia has grown into one of the ten most visited websites globally, with nearly 65 million articles in over 300 languages.
Shabangu has been an active Wikimedian since 2013, and his work spans English Wikipedia as well as several southern African language Wikipedias, including Siswati and IsiNdebele.
The community organiser and activist for linguistic diversity on Wikimedia projects has served as president of Wikimedia South Africa and is known for promoting content in South African languages and organising outreach and training events across the region.
Outside of Wikipedia, Shabangu has worked as a communications specialist in various South African institutions and non-profit organisations, most notably serving as a communications professional for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in South Africa.
His appointment to the Wikimedia Foundation Board will see him bring a much needed African perspective to one of the the world’s most important knowledge platforms. Key off which will be the championing of African languages and indigenous knowledge that is available in communities but not on formal publications. Shabangu will serve on the board for the next three years.
