Top row: Prof Tobie van Dyk, Prof Laurette Pretorius, Dr Febe de Wet | Bottom row: Dr Laurette Marais, Dr Friedel Wolff, Prof Menno van Zaanen
Among the newly appointed leaders is Tobie van Dyk, professor of Applied Linguistics at North-West University and head of SADiLaR’s Higher Education Sector Support Programme (HESSP). Prof van Dyk has been elected to the Akademie Council as one of four members from the humanities. He was subsequently also elected as deputy chairperson of the council. His expertise spans academic literacy, language assessment, language planning, multilingualism, digital language resources and generative artificial intelligence (AI).
SADiLaR also congratulates Prof Laurette Pretorius, an honorary fellow of SADiLaR, on being re-elected for a third term as a member of the council. She is one of four elected members from the natural sciences. In addition, she is a founding member and chair of the Akademie’s Commission for Language Technology, established in 2026. Prof Pretorius is emeritus professor of Computer Science at the University of South Africa and extraordinary professor at Stellenbosch University. Her extensive expertise includes natural language processing and language technology towards the technological development of the resource-scarce languages of South Africa.
Prof Menno van Zaanen (professor in Digital Humanities at SADiLaR), Dr Friedel Wolff (SADiLaR’s technical manager), SADiLaR’s former speech node (CSIR) manager, Dr Laurette Marais, and SADiLaR’s Scientific Advisory Committee member, Dr Febe de Wet, were all appointed as expert members to the Akademie’s Commission for Language Technology in 2026.
SADiLaR celebrates the recognition of its members and associates and their continued contribution to advancing language scholarship, digital language resources, language technology and multilingualism in South Africa.
We extend our warmest congratulations to all the newly elected and appointed members and wish them every success as they contribute to the continued development and advancement of Afrikaans as a part of South Africa’s broader multilingual knowledge landscape.
Read the full media statement here.
