Nickelodeon Africa has announced that “SpongeBob SquarePants” will run in South Africa’s local language ‘isiZulu’ from 5 December 2022.
Available on DStv, the pay-TV service said the show offers a wonderful opportunity for the whole family to learn and be entertained in a local language by the funniest sponge under the sea.
The channel hopes to move the needle on promoting and preserving local language through pop culture.
In July, Nickelodeon tested interest in a Zulu-dubbed version of the popular cartoon on the animated character’s birthday, and the resonance was clear.
Senior vice-president and general manager of Paramount Africa and peer lead BET International, Monde Twala, said, “Paramount Africa and Nickelodeon are committed to playing a pivotal role in promoting diversity, creativity and edutainment for African youth.
“Through Nickelodeon Africa’s dubbing of “SpongeBob SquarePants” into isiZulu, we are unleashing the power of content, expressing the value, impact and emotion of an already iconic piece of content. We allow our children to see and hear themselves in the characters they have grown to love,” Twala said.
Twala added that they couldn’t just choose any show to achieve their mission of cultural impact and better representation on their channel; they had to choose the best.
The show will run every on NickToons from December 5.
