This is the first English-Zulu / Zulu-English dictionary to be developed in South Africa. It was begun in the 1940s by Wits University lecturers, CM Doke and BW Vilakazi. Vilakazi was the first published Zulu-language poet and his collection, Amal'eZulu, is listed in the Top 100 African Books of the twentieth century.

The first the English and Zulu Dictionary dictionary was published in 1958 by Wits Unviersity Press and compiled by C.M. Doke and B.W. Vilakazi, intended as a companion to the Zulu-English Dictionary compiled by Doke and Vilakazi (first published 1948 by Wits University Press). The first combined edition with English-isiZulu / isiZulu-English was published in 1990 and remains the definitive authority. A vised isiZulu orthography is introduced in this Fourth Edition in line with the approved PanSALB (2008) orthography revisions undertaken under the auspices and control of the Wits Language Centre, Johannesburg.