GOITSEMANG TLHABYE

ONE WOULD do a double take andeven think it was a mistake that thesoft-spoken mild-mannered young-ster, Lehlogonolo Mataboge, couldpossibly be the same rapper makingwaves on the local hip-hop scene.

But the 16-year-old rapper fromWest View, Pretoria West, nowknown by his stage name A-Reece,knows exactly how to come out ofhis shell and give a sassy perform-ance to keep heads nodding and feettapping.

Lehlogonolo said his first lovefrom a young age had always beenmusic and he intended to keep itgoing after he finished school.

He is also adamant that he willmake sure he has a plan B becausethe music industry has many obsta-cles.

The youngster has already begunexperimenting with other mix tapesbut his growth and recognitioncame because Nakedi Ramothibesnephew, Kwena Manyahela, who

attended the same school asMataboge, urged his uncle to givehis schoolmates music a try.

Ramothibe is running his projectmanagement company, Adriot Con-sultants, and has often worked withestablished artists. Ramothibe said:I loved Mataboges lyrical content.It was interesting and not like that ofa typical 16-year-old.

That is why I thought it best togive it to artists like Khuli Chana tolisten to. They too saw the potential.

Hes confident about his musicand will appeal to the young highschool market because he describesthe things that youngsters his agecan relate to, said Ramothibe.

Lehlogonolo recently released a

single, Come Up, from his upcomingEP Brownies, and has already had3 525 downloads, since its release onFebruary 2.

The EP, which has 10 tracks, isset to be released officially at hisown school, Elandspoort Highsfund-raising event, on March 28.

Lehlogonolo has become a profes-sional recording hip-hop artist at ayoung age and his initiative will bebacked by artists such as Chana,Cash Time K.O and Kid X as well asthe Touchdown trio Deejays fromMetro FM.

One of the things I admiredabout Lehlogonolo was that he cameas a full package humble, confidentand an A-student, said Ramothibe.

Mataboges elder brother, Phol-ogo, who is also a musician and pro-ducer, said he was proud of his sib-lings achievement and happy to seehim succeed in something he loved.

I wanted him to be a lawyer orsomething like that, but I heard hismix tape, Chapter Two.

I can say proudly that he tookwho I am as an artist and made iteven better, said Phologo.

Project co-ordinator Mosa Mofo-keng said she had taken it upon her-self to be the disciplinarian andoffer assurance to Lehlogonolosparents that he would remain stead-fast in his studies and not getswayed by the hype.

His parents knew he lovedmusic and entrusted us to take careof him, hence we started by ensur-ing he had a psychologist and a tutorto assist him, said Mofokeng.

Hes great to work with andunderstands where his responsibil-ities lie, at his school work, and thatwe will not compromise on that,Mofokeng said.

3PRETORIA NEWSMONDAY MARCH 24 2014 News

Shoddyinterpretingmars trials

LALI VAN ZUYDAM

THE STATE of interpret-ing in South Africa hasbeen a topic of discussionsince the day fake signlanguage interpreter

Thamsanqa Jantjie took the stage atFNB stadium during the memorialservice for Nelson Mandela.

Jantjie embarrassed SouthAfrica in the international arena in front of people like US PresidentBarack Obama, British Prime Min-ister David Cameron and even rockstar Bono from U2.

Three months after the Jantjieincident, as the world focused onSouth Africa for the murder trial ofParalympian Oscar Pistorius, it wasagain interpreters who got peopletalking (and tweeting).

State witness Michelle Burgerlost so much confidence in theAfrikaans-English interpreter Ver-uschka Bosch that she opted to tes-tify in English rather than hermother tongue, Afrikaans.

Last week, the new interpreter inthe trial misinterpreted testimonyseveral times.

Defence attorney Barry Rouxcorrected the interpreter during thetestimony of State witness, formerpoliceman Colonel Giliam van Rens-burg:

Van Rensburg (in Afrikaans): when we arrived there weretowels and black garbage bags onthe scene.

Interpreter: there was blackclothing.

Van Rensburg: The person wasalready dead when the paramedicsarrived.

Interpreter: The body died ontheir arrival.

The Pretoria News spoke toexperts about the state of interpret-ing, specifically legal (court) inter-preting. Dr Eleanor Cornelius, sen-ior lecturer in the department oflinguistics at the University ofJohannesburg, trains interpretersand translators. She is an accreditedsimultaneous interpreter and hasexperience in court interpreting.

Cornelius said shoddy legalinterpreting in courts could

influence the outcome of a case. Ifan exact and accurate rendition ofthe meaning intended by the wit-ness, prosecutor, defence attorney orjudge is not given in the target lan-guage (i.e. the language interpretedinto), the testimony is flawed by themisinterpretation of theinterpreter.

Such misinterpretations couldonly be picked up and corrected ifthe presiding officer was proficientin both languages spoken in court.

If the presiding officer is notproficient in the source language,the officer has to rely fully on theinterpreters rendition, with thebelief that what is presented is cor-rect and accurate, said Cornelius.

SA Translators Institute (Sati)chairman Johan Blaauw said sev-eral interpreting mistakes in a trialcould lead to findings being influ-enced by errors.

Cornelius agreed.If sections of the testimony are

misinterpreted and therefore inac-curate, incomplete or simply false,the result can be that a guilty personwalks free, or that an innocent per-son is sent to jail, she said.

The high-profile Pistorius trialof the century is broadcast live ontelevision and radio to the public.

Cornelius said if interpreting ina case with so much public interestis shoddy, one can fairly assumethat poor interpreting happens dailyin most courts.

One can only imagine, whenthe stakes are lower and there is lesspublic scrutiny, the interpretingquality will be even worse in othercases, she said.

Blaauw and Cornelius agreedthat proper training and co-opera-tion from the Department of Justicewas critical to avoid further interna-tional embarrassment.

Speaking more than one lan-guage, without proper interpretingtraining, does not imply that theinterpreter is qualified for the job.After careful selection, interpretersshould receive adequate and goodquality training not simply anytraining, Cornelius said.

The Pistorius trial, Corneliussaid, has highlighted that inter-

preting is under-valued and under-estimated. It is time decision- andpolicy-makers start acknowledgingthe crucial role language plays.

If the department acknowledgeda lack of capacity to render excel-lent services, it should rather con-tract the services of accredited,experienced, well-trained inter-preters even if it cost them money,she said.

The cost of poor interpreting ismuch higher than the cost of a goodinterpreter, she added.

The Department of Justice didnot respond to questions about plansto improve interpreting.

lali.vanzuydam@inl.co.za

Twitter: @LalivZ

Expert: inaccuracy can lead to guiltyparties walking or innocent ones jailed

There are no dedicated court-interpreting degree qualifications Unisas BA (specialising in courtinterpreting) was terminated in 2009. University of Johannesburg: BAlanguage practice degree (does notonly focus on interpreting). University of Witwatersrand:diploma in legal interpreting,Honours/Masters in interpreting. University of the Free State: nationaldiploma in court interpreting. North West University: short coursesin simultaneous interpreting. Durban University of Technology:translation and interpreting practiceprogramme. Stellenbosch University: post-graduate diploma in translation andinterpreting.

TRAINING

Excellent knowledge and commandof both working languages. Specialised terminology such as theterms used in a courtroom. Interpreting, listening and analysingskills.Coping with problems duringinterpreting (such as where there iscultural concepts for which there is noequivalent in the target language).Note-taking skills to avoid asking thewitness to repeat themselves. Courtroom procedures: knowing the physical layout of the courtroomand where to stand; knowing the role-players in a courtroom and being familiar with court proceedings.Ethics and professional issues: beingfamiliar with codes of good conduct,ethical considerations. Stress management.

SKILLS

Careful attention should be paid tothe recruitment and qualifications ofinterpreters. Training courses should be carefullydesigned and should address thecompetencies required of courtinterpreters.Quality assurance measures need tobe put in place in all courts (not only inhigh-profile cases). Interpreter testing could be done atregular intervals.Accreditation of some sort should beintroduced.Refresher courses should be offered.

NEEDS

Oscar murder trial set to run until MayTEBOGO MONAMA

THE MURDER trial of ParalympianOscar Pistorius has been extendeduntil May. Yesterday, the office of theDeputy Judge President Willem vander Merwe said the trial originallyset down from March 3 to 20 willnow continue until May 16.

Pistorius is accused of murder-ing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkampon February 14 last year. He haspleaded not guilty, claiming hebelieved there was an intruder inthe house.

The case will continue in the Pre-toria High Court from today untilApril 4. Then the court will go intorecess until April 11.

Judiciary spokeswoman LulamaLuti said: After the recess, the trialwill resume on Monday April 14until Friday May 16. These dateshave been agreed to by all parties inconsultation with Judge President(Dunstan) Mlambo.

Meanwhile, bidding for Pisto-riuss Silver Woods Country Estateopened this week. The house isbeing sold by estate agent Ansie

Louw the wife of his long-timecoach Ampie Louw. On Thursday,Pistoriuss lawyer Brian Webbersaid the athlete had to sell his houseto raise funds to pay his legal fees.

This is due to the unexpectedextension of the trial beyond the ini-tial three-week period Due to thedelay in finalising the trial, the deci-sion to urgently dispose of his singlebiggest asset had to be made.

Pistorius is now living with hisuncle Arnold. He has not competedprofessionally since 2012.

tebogo.monama@inl.co.za

Lehlogonolo A-Reece Mataboge, a Grade 11 pupil from Elandspoort High School, has become a professional recording artist in the hip-hop industry.PICTURE: OUPA MOKOENA

Shy teen a hit assassy hip-hop rapper

Schumacher losing a lot of weightDAILY MAIL

LONDON: Stricken former F1driver Michael Schumacher hasreportedly lost 25 percent of hisbody weight while in his artificiallyinduced coma and now weighs a lit-tle under 54kg.

Today is the 85th day of the comathe driver was placed in on Decem-ber 29 after suffering serious braininjuries during a ski run on theslopes of the French resort of Meri-bel.

Taken to the University Hospitalof Grenoble by helicopter, he wasplaced in the coma and has under-gone two operations.

Although his family, manager

Sabine Kehm and close friend JeanTodt insist they have not given up onthe hope of full recovery, there isstill no concrete news about howoptimistic his medical team areabout him coming around.

Doctors began decreasing theanaesthetics keeping him under amonth ago but he is still uncon-scious with no signs that he recog-nises his external environment.

Italys La Gazzetta dello Sportand the German daily Bild-Zeitungare now reporting Schumachersdrastic weight loss.

While a weight loss in comapatients is normal, 20kg is a lot forpeople with normal body weights,said Professor Dr Curt Diehm, of

the Karlsbad teaching hospital inGermany.

One must assume that his mus-cles have degraded greatly due to theimmobility, he said.

Although Schumacher, 45, hashis muscles and joints massageddaily while lying prone in intensivecare, Diehm said this was notenough to stop muscle shrinkage.

Schumachers wife Corinna, hisdaughter Gina-Marie, 17, and sonMick, 14, spend up to eight hours aday at his bedside praying for signsof a recovery.

Doctors believe that if he doeswake up, he will need many years ofintensive therapy to regain full limbmovement and speech. Michael Schumacher

Shark bite victims body found

A WITNESS described yesterdayhow the body of an Austriantourist, 72, visiting Port St Johnswashed up yesterday after he wasfatally bitten at 3pm by a shark atSecond Beach on Saturday.

His family screamed at thesight of his body floating in thewater. We called the NSRI andpolice. It took the divers 20 min-utes to get to the body, owner ofthe local Outspan Inn, Katherine

Costello, said yesterday.She said Bugs Moodley, Intaba

River Lodge manager where thegroup had stayed, called her seek-ing help. The shark victims wifeand other tourists were incon-solable when the body washed up.Bugs (Moodley) told me that allhis clients were warned not to goswimming. There have beeneight fatal shark attacks in PortSt Johns since 2009. Jason Felix

Wkloof 2 work

in jail bakery

FRIKKIE du Preez and ChristoffBecker, two of the so-called Water-kloof Four, are working in thebakery of the Kgosi MampuruPrison in Pretoria and being heldin a communal cell.

Correctional Services Depart-ment spokesman Manelisi Wolelatold a Sunday newspaper it wastoo early to say how the pairsrehabilitation was progressing.The paper said its investigationsdiscovered that Becker was nowhaving to queue to use a payphone as is the normal prison rule.

Becker and Du Preez had theirparole revoked at the end of lastmonth after a video emergedshowing the two having a party injail, apparently drinking alcoholand using a cellphone.

Wolela said four prison guardswould be attending disciplinaryhearings within a month for theirpart in the incident.

He said that recent raids in thecells at the prison had led to theseizure of 86 mobile phones, acomputer and a hard drive.

Becker, Du Preez, Gert vanSchalkwyk and Reinach Tiedtwere released last month afterbeing jailed for beating a home-less man to death in Pretoria in2001. Sapa

Kiss for dyingzoo workerA GIRAFFE gave a lick to a dyingman who asked as a last wish tobe taken to Blijdorp Zoo in Rotter-dam, Netherlands, where he hadworked odd jobs for 25 years.

Mario Eijs had developed abrain tumour and had difficultywalking or speaking. He wantedto pay a final visit to the co-work-ers and animals he loved.

The Stichting AmbulanceWens offers free transport to ter-minally ill patients.

Several giraffes became curi-ous when Mario was brought to

their enclosure on March 19.Mario got a lick on his nose

after a lot of snuffles, foundationworker Olaf Exoo said. It was alast greeting. Sapa-AP

A zoo giraffe licks terminally illMario Eijs. PICTURE: AP

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