Court translators a joke

Last week the newsroom had an outing to the Randburg Magistrate’s Court to sit in on the sentencing of a rape case one of our journalists had been covering for the last year. The outcome of the verdict was very positive: 29-year-old Phillip Mabaso was sentenced to 59 years for one count house robbery (4 years), one count robbery with aggravated circumstances (15 years), one count robbery (15 years) and one count rape (25 years). Khululane Sibanda (31) was sentenced to 40 years for one count robbery (15 years) and one count rape (25 years). All sentences are to be served consecutively.

Although a victory, the procedure of getting to the sentencing made me want to claw my eyes out.

Scheduled to start at 9am Magistrate George Andrews wasn’t able to call the court into session until 10am when both translators had finally arrived. Then, just one hour into proceedings, I found myself rolling my eyes for the umpteenth time as he announced, “Before I get into trouble with the unions I better call for a recess”. Thirty minutes later we were back in session.

I can only imagine how many more cases would be heard if the courts were run by Sars.

Listening to the case I found myself saying a silent prayer that I never find myself in a situation where I have to rely on our judicial system. How the defendant, Karen Howell, managed to persevere through all the foot dragging, bureaucracy and incompetence is anyone’s guess. Karen, I take my hat off to you. Your strength is phenomenal and you are a true role model for rape victims.

The translators were hysterical. Matrics, if you are still unsure of what career path to follow, you’re interested in a job with cushy hours and virtually no work then go and study two or three of South Africa’s official languages and become a court translator.

A Zulu and Sotho translator were needed for the two accused who, unsurprisingly, were also illegal immigrants. Throughout the proceedings both translators sat slouched against the wall looking utterly bored. One in particular spent the entire morning rubbing her eyes and picking sleep out of them or scratching her nose and head. The magistrate’s annoyance was almost palpable.

But worse than all this was what a number of the journalists in court told me during recess. Apparently neither of the translators were translating accurately. They made up their own stories and were very vague about the specific charges and evidence against the accused. The grammatical application of both languages was also reportedly shocking.

But all these negatives aside, a special mention must be made of the people who helped Karen bring her rapists to justice, Warrant Officer Michael Erasmus, State Prosecutor Finessa Hawkins and Magistrate George Andrews. It is people like these who leave me with a flicker of hope for the judicial system.