Question NW62 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
24 March 2023 - NW62
Breytenbach, Adv G to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
Whether any programmes are available for qualifying and upskilling interpreters of all languages within his department and/or the Justice College; if not, why not; if so, (a) on what date was the last programme completed, (b) what total number of interpreters completed the specified programme and (c) were the participants provided with some form of certification; (2) Whether any quality control measures are in place to ensure that interpretation is done to the highest standards in order to provide accurate interpretation in courts; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
There are several programmes that are offered in English, facilitated by Justice College (Directorate: Legal Learning), that are aimed at capacitating and upskilling interpreters of all languages.
a) The last programmes were offered from 5 – 9 December 2022.
b) A total number of cohort that completed the programmes is 334, details are provided in Table 1 below.
c) Learners/participants are certificated in all the programmes.
Table1: Courses Offered
|
Course |
April |
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Total |
|
a) Newly Appointed Court Interpreters |
0 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
0 |
18 |
28 |
0 |
0 |
71 |
|
b) Advanced Course for Interpreters |
0 |
0 |
0 |
30 |
0 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
52 |
|
c) Expert evidence for Interpreters |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
28 |
|
d) Civil Law |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
18 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
45 |
|
e) Legal Interpreting Learnership Remedial Interventions |
53 |
16 |
31 |
0 |
23 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
138 |
|
TOTAL |
53 |
16 |
31 |
55 |
50 |
73 |
28 |
0 |
28 |
334 |
2. Over and above the aforesaid training, the Office of the Chief Justice implements its Departmental Performance Management and Development System Policy and employs the services of Principle Interpreters to control and oversee the quality of the interpretation of Senior Court Interpreters.
Furthermore, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has established a Directorate responsible for Language Services, which includes training, upskilling, monitoring of quality of interpretation services as well as agreements with Non-Governmental Organizations such as DeafSA, to train the Magistrates’ Courts’ interpreters on the relevant Sign Language needs and requirements.