NATIONAL NEWS - In September Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng announced that English will be the only language of record in South African courts.
"Nobody is saying South Africans are not permitted to speak in their mother tongue in a court of law," he said. "We are just saying, to facilitate efficiency and a smooth running of the court system, we would do well according to our experience.
"We should have everything that is said in a particular case captured in one language that is understood by all the judges - and that language is English. Not all appeal judges understands all 11 official languages."
He said they had not arrived at the decision lightly, but had agreed that what went into the records in court should be in English.
How this will affect court proceedings
According to Mogoeng's spokesman, Nathi Mncube, the best way to explain is to use the constitutional court as an example.
"Every document and all proceedings in the constitutional court are in English. Litigants will file in English and the proceedings will be conducted in English. If the litigants prefer to use any other language, interpretators will be used," he told the George Herald.
Affidavits will also have to be in English and an interpreter will interpret it to the language of choice.
"As English is already used as a language of record at the supreme court of appeal (SCA), constitutional court and most high courts, nothing much will change, but the implementation will take place in a phased-in approach," Mncube said.
AfriForum and several academics wrote an open letter to Mogoeng, questioning the decision. They believed that the decision was one-sided and did not support the country's multilingual nature.
ARTICLE: KRISTY KOLBERG, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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