How the Republic actually speaks
An interpreter is part of the court, not a favour arranged by one of the parties. isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho, Afrikaans, English, Sepedi, Setswana, Xitsonga, siSwati, Tshivenda and South African Sign Language are not exotic extras on a roll. They are how people in this building give evidence.
An interpreter who is tired, who is related to a witness, or who summarises instead of interpreting, is not a small administrative problem. The record will look tidy. The evidence will not be. If the accused cannot follow the trial, the trial is in trouble, however elegant the judgment later sounds in English.
Sign language, and the needs of a witness who hears little, belong in the same family. So does the person who understands the charge but not the cross-examination. Slow down. Look at the face, not only at the note.
A working method for a multilingual Monday
• Establish language before the plea, not after the first confused answer.
• Swear the interpreter. Put the name on the record. If the interpreter changes at lunch, say so.
• Watch for the witness who nods at everything. Nodding is not always comprehension.
• Do not let counsel and the interpreter hold a private meeting in a language the accused cannot follow.
• A children’s-court enquiry in a language the child does not use at home is an enquiry the child will not remember as fair.
Dignity, in this country, has always had a sound. If we cannot hear it, we are not yet sitting.
A note from Neelan Karikan. If we cannot understand the person in the box, they cannot experience our authority as anything but noise. Language is how a court becomes human.