The first Afrikaans translation was first published in March 2000 by Cape Town based publishing house Human & Rousseau, who generally focus on general non-fiction, literature, and children’s books. No original artwork was used for the Afrikaans translation with H&R deciding to use the American artwork created by Mary GrandPré—a popular choice among publication houses to adopt the already existing cover artwork (either from the American or English books) to save on costs of producing an original illustration and also because it’s instantly recognisable.

The book was reprinted many times—as were the later books in the series—however, it is now out of stock in South Africa and can only be obtained from the second hand market. The 10th printing of the book was released in March 2007. The second edition was published on 19 April 2024, the translation remained the same but the cover artwork designed by Jonny Duddle was used.

The whole Harry Potter series was translated into Afrikaans by renowned writer and translator, Janie Oosthuysen. As a writer Oosthuysen won the 1996 and 1997 C.P. Hoogenhout medel for children's literature, an award to recognise the best original Afrikaans book for children between 7-12, as well as the Afrikaans Language and Culture Association (ATKV). In 2002 she won the Afrikaans Academy Award and the IBBY award for translation, and in 2003 she won the SAVI-award for her Harry Potter translations—after which she was invited by UNESCO to attend the Harry Potter international conference in Paris where she was involved in panel discussions. Oosthuysen has also translated The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien into Afrikaans as well as books by C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens. To date she has written, translated, and edited over 300 books.

In a conversation with me Oosthuysen estimated that H&R would typically print 3,000 copies for a newly published bestseller.