Working with isiXhosa and Afrikaans Interpreters in Counselling

A survivor may arrive speaking English, switch to isiXhosa when her sister joins the call, and then answer the last question in Afrikaans because that is the language her mother used at home. None of this is unusual in the Western Cape. What matters is that the room keeps up with her, rather than the other way around.

We book interpreters through two vetted pools: one attached to a legal aid clinic in the city bowl, the other through a community organisation in Khayelitsha. Sessions are scheduled with a buffer either side, because a rushed handover is where detail gets lost. If a client prefers a specific interpreter, that preference is recorded in the file and honoured where possible.

Before a session, the interpreter receives a short brief: the client's preferred name, the purpose of the conversation, and any terms the client has used for people or places in her life. We do not share case history, addresses, or names of relatives. The brief is verbal, and nothing is written down that could identify the client if the note were misplaced.

Written summaries stay in English, but they are kept deliberately thin. We record the themes discussed, the decisions made, and the next appointment. We do not transcribe what was said word for word, and we do not translate quotes back into a third language. If a client asks for a copy in isiXhosa or Afrikaans, we prepare a short summary rather than a full translation, and we hand it over in person.

There are limits to what interpretation can carry. A word for shame in isiXhosa does not sit in the same place as its English counterpart, and fear described in Afrikaans can sound quieter than it feels. Interpreters who work with us are briefed on this, and they are invited to flag when a phrase does not land. Sometimes the most useful thing a session produces is a note that a particular word needs more time.

For practitioners sending a referral, one line helps more than a page: the language the client is most comfortable speaking when she is tired or upset. That single detail means the first session can begin with the work, not with logistics.