2007

The formal launch of the EWA Supplement is held on 21 January with the Dutch contributors and benefactors of the publication as guests of honour.

2006

It is the WAT's 80th birthday on 25 March 2006. This is celebrated on 15 September with a performance by the Stellenbosch Libertas Choir in the Konservatorium of the University of Stellenbosch.
Sinonieme en Verwante Woorde is published in April, the Elektroniese WAT (A-Q) is published in October and the EWA Supplement in December.
Mrs. Z. Samuel of Johannesburg is the winner of the WAT's SMS competition. The sayings of Oubaas of 7de Laan provided the questions for this competition.

2005

Volume XII of the WAT, which contains the letters P en Q, is published. The leatherbound version is available in July and the standard version in August.

2004

Dr W.F. Botha is appointed as sixth Editor-in-Chief.
The D.Litt. degree is conferred on Mr P.A. Louw in April 2004 for the thesis Criteria for a Multifunctional, Monolingual Dictionary in Junior Secondary Education.

2003

The Elektroniese WAT is completed on 28 March and released on 29 March at the Klein-Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees.
On 9 April the D.Litt. degree is conferred on Mr W.F. Botha for the thesis Die impak van die leksikografieteorie op die samestelling van die Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal.
The Etimologiewoordeboek van Afrikaans (EWA) is published on 13 June.
EWA as well as the CD of EWA is presented to the Dutch benefactors on 5 September.
'n Man wat beur --- Huldigingsbundel vir Dirk van Schalkwyk, edited by Willem Botha, is published.
The Editor-in-Chief retires on 31 Desember.

2002

On 8 March the first phase of the Etimologiewoordeboek van Afrikaans is presented to the Dutch benefactors Prof. P.J.G. van Sterkenburg, Prof. A.M.F.J. Moerdijk and Dr J. Kist of the Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie and Dr B. Jongsma of the publishing firm Sdu. They did the fund-raising for the compilation of this dictionary.

2001

The first board of directors of the Bureau of the WAT as an Article 21 company is designated: Prof. A.H. van Wyk, Chairman and representative of the University of Stellenbosch; Dr D.J. van Schalkwyk, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of the WAT; Prof. W.A.M. Carstens, Provincial Language Committee; Prof. R.H. Gouws, AFRILEX-representative; Ms W.H. Lategan, Marketing expert; Dr M. Pienaar, Provincial Language Committee; Dr J.F. Smith, Financial expert; Mr R.A. Stevens, Legal expert.
The 75th year of the Bureau is commemorated on 28 September at the WAT festival with Die variëteite van Afrikaans as the theme.

2000

On 29 May, volume XI of the WAT is presented to the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Dr Ben Ngubane, and to Mr M.B. Kumalo, Chairperson of the Pan South African Language Board. The Onoma computer program developed by Lexilogik, 'n Swedish company, in cooperation with the WAT, is put into use. The Bureau is registered on 8 November as a Section 21 company. Boards of Directors of the national dictionary units participate in training. The Editor-in-Chief visits Norway and Sweden by invitation and assists in the strategic planning of the Swedish Dictionary in Lund. Prof. D. Worren of the Norsk Ordbok (Norse Dictionary) visits the Bureau for guidance in the management of a lexicographical project.

1999

From 1 to 5 March the Bureau moves to its new address at 115 Banghoek Road. On 15 March the first printed annual report of the Bureau, with the title Buro van die WAT: 1997 - 1998 is issued. The WAT TRUST is established. The Bureau and a Swedish company start the development of a new computer program for the Bureau. Staff members of the Bureau provide input at several meetings organised by the Pan South African Language Board to establish a national dictionary unit for each of the official South African languages. The first students of lexicography from Gabon arrive for training. An agreement for co-operation between the Groupe de Recherches en Langues et Cultures Orales (GRELACO) of the Omar Bongo University, Libreville, Gabon, and the Bureau is signed on 6 December.

1998

Training is provided for lecturers from several South African universities and technikons and from the University of Namibia, as well as for lexicographers from the Xhosa Dictionary Unit. Students from Leiden University, Universiteit van Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam also arrive for training at the Bureau. Staff members of the Bureau provide input at several meetings organised by the Pan South African Language Board to establish a national dictionary unit for each of the official South African languages. In November the Editor-in-Chief visits lexicographical projects in Denmark and Sweden and on 1 December he attends the festivities organised in Leiden, the Netherlands, to celebrate the completion of the WNT.

1997

Training is provided for lecturers from Vista University, a member of the Pan South African Language Board and a lexicographer from the Zulu Dictionary Unit. The Bureau also provides training in Libreville, Gabon to lexicographers from various African countries. Mr Edmund Weiner, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, visits the Bureau on 29 September. Dr J. Kruijsen of the Woordenboek van de Limburgse Dialecten in Nijmegen, the Netherlands and Dr J. van Keymeulen of the Woordenboek van de Vlaamse Dialekten in Ghent, Belgium, visit the Bureau from 18 to 31 March. The Editor-in-Chief of the WAT pays a counter-visit to these projects during September.

1996

The home page of the Bureau of the WAT appears on the internet. The Editor-in-Chief of the WAT, Dr D.J. van Schalkwyk, is elected to the Pan South African Language Board. The compilation of a bibliographical database on computer is begun. Volume X of the WAT, containing the letter M, appears on 15 November. Lexikos becomes the mouthpiece of the African Association for Lexicography (AFRILEX). Lexicographers from KwaZulu Natal, the Northern Province, Angola, Tanzania, Zambia and Gabon attend the training course at the Bureau. Dr A.M.F.J. Moerdijk, Editor-in-Chief of the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (WNT), visits the Bureau and presents a course in etymology. In co-operation with the State Language Board, the Bureau presents a seminar to explore the capital-generating possibilities of lexicography.

1995

The LEXI-XDP-program is developed for the Xhosa Dictionary Project to assist computerised structuring of manuscript material and multilayered retrieval of information. Die leksikograaf as eksegeet compiled by Dr J.CM.D. du Plessis and dedicated to Dr F.J. Snijman is published in the AFRILEX-series. Lexikos is accredited by the Departement of Education. Prof. P.G.J. van Sterkenburg, Director of the Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie (INL) and dr J. Kist, treasurer of the INL visit the Bureau on 2 August. A policy for the treatment of insulting and sensitive items in the WAT is approved by the Board of Control.

1994

An international congress on offensive and sensitive lexical items in the WAT is held from 8 to 10 February. Volume IX containing the letter L, is published at the end of March.

1993

Volume IX is completed on computer by the editorial division and typeset electronically by the reprographic division. This is the first time that the Bureau itself has typeset the WAT. The Editor-in-Chief visits lexicographical projects in the United The strategic planning of all the performance areas of the Bureau is completed, plans of action are put into operation and participating target management is implemented continuously. The success of the Bureau's planning and computerizing action becomes evident inter alia from the fact that the manuscript for WAT Volume IX is completed in just under three years (compared to seven years on an average for previous volumes), that the Bureau has in the meantime put several other publications on the market, and that, in addition, several new responsibilities such as marketing and typesetting have been added to its activities.

1992

Woordkeusegids: 'n Kerntesourus van Afrikaans, a satellite publication of the Bureau, is published by the Bureau on 24 September. It is typeset entirely by the Bureau. First participation by members of the editorial staff in an international lexicographical conference. W.F. Botha en A.E. Cloete give papers at EURALEX '92 in Tampere, Finland. This is followed by frequent international appearances by editorial staff.

1991

Dr D.J. van Schalkwyk is appointed as Editor-in-Chief after the retirement of Mr D.C. Hauptfleisch on 31 July. Lexikos 1, a lexicographical specialist publication of the Bureau in the AFRILEX series, is published on 30 July. It is fully typeset by the Bureau. Volume VIII of the WAT (KOS-KYW-), appears on 18 November. Dr Van Schalkwyk visits lexicographical projects in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom.

1990

The Bureau starts to import all new language material into the computer database by using the LEXI-program of the Human Sciences Research Council. Four of the first published volumes of the WAT are read into the computer database by means of a scanner and an optical character recognition program (OCR), with the automatic extraction of data in mind. A new editorial system is designed and from July all manuscript is prepared in accordance with the new system. All new manuscript is structurally computerized for automatic extraction of data.

1989

The Bureau implements its strategic planning process in order to complete the Dictionary up to the letter Z as quickly and effectively as possible.

1987

The Bureau starts to computerize in order to accelerate the editorial process.

1986

The "Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal" Amendment Act, 1986 (Act No. 9, 1986) is passed. The Board of Control is enlarged to six members. The Administrator (in future also the permanent Chairman) and the Editor-in-Chief are ex officio members, and four members are appointed by the Minister of National Education. One member represents the S.A. Akademie.

1984

Publication of Volume VII (KOM-KOR-).

1983

The collection of lexical material reaches the 3 million mark.

1981

Mr D.C. Hauptfleisch is appointed as fourth Editor-in-Chief.

1977

Volume VI (KLA-KOLYK), with publication date 1976, appears in March.

1973

The "Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal" Act, 1973 (Act No. 50, 1973) is passed by Parliament. The Dictionary project is established at Stellenbosch on a permanent basis. Henceforth the Bureau of the WAT is regulated by a Board of Control of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal, consisting of five members, and in which the State, the University of Stellenbosch and the S.A. Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns are represented.

1970

The second millionth entry of language material is recorded.

1968

Volume V (J-KJ) is published.

1963

The first millionth entry is recorded by the WAT.

1962

Dr F.J. Snijman is appointed as third Editor-in-Chief.

1961

Publication of Volume IV (H-I).

1958

Publication of Volume III (G).

1955

Publication of Volume II (D-F).

1951

7 May: Publication of Volume I (A-C). Great public interest and a predominantly positive reception. The editorial staff is enlarged to ten members.

1947

Dr P.C. Schoonees is appointed as second Editor-in-Chief on 1 January.

1945

Prof. Smith retires because of ill health. The Dictionary Committee is replaced by a Board of Control consisting of representatives of the Government, the University of Stellenbosch and the S.A. Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.

1937

A Dictionary Committee is appointed as a controlling body.

1930

The Dictionary office moves to Stellenbosch.

1929

The University of Stellenbosch (US) takes over the responsibility for the Dictionary from the Nasionale Pers.

1926

The co-operation between Prof. J.J. Smith, the Nasionale Pers and the University of Stellenbosch is confirmed by means of formal contracts. Work on the Dictionary starts in Cape Town.

1925

A Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament recommends the compilation of a "complete and authoritative dictionary" with State support.

1920

In Die Burger Prof. J.J. Smith advocates the compilation of a bilingual dictionary and the collection of the Afrikaans vocabulary with a view to the compilation of an explanatory monolingual Afrikaans dictionary.