Abstract:

The prosecution of former Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius and the national broadcasting of his trial in 2014, brought to light a persistant shortcoming in the South African judicial system, namely the breakdown in communication between defendants, witnesses, lawyers and judges. The fact that South Africa has committed itself to 12 official languages and that the South African constitution ensures each citizen’s right to express themselves in their home language, has led to immense problems that court interpreters have experienced, as seen during the Pistorius-trial. Cote (2005), Lombard and Carney (2011) and Ralarala (2014) have recently highlighted how evidence can be lost in translation, as court interpreters have been unable to consistently and accurately translate the evidence provided by defendants and witnesses who have expressed themselves in their mother tongues, and how this has led to documented cases where justice has subsequently come under threat. As career-orientated, Afrikaans communication skills have been integrated into a nationally acclaimed curriculum to medical students at the University of Cape Town since 2003, the potential for law students has existed to acquire career-orientated, Afrikaans communication skills to communicate with Afrikaans-speaking clients in a province where people speak more Afrikaans than any other language (Census, 2011). This paper intends to reflect on the offering of a pilot study to equip Final year law students with an additional language in order to communicate with and understand future clients upon graduation.

Keywords:

Afrikaans, language teaching and learning, law, LLB, communication skills, multilingualism.