City celebrates International Translation Day
29 September 2023
Today, 29 September 2023 marks International Translation Day. The City of Cape Town, in partnership with the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) hosted a workshop with various spheres of government and associations in the Council Chambers today to commemorate how translation services breaks down so many barriers in our society.
The theme for this year's International Translations day is 'A world without barriers'. The City being a leading role-player in the language practice of translations and interpreting, hosted a workshop today to pay tribute to language professionals for their role in facilitating dialogue and understanding through interpreting and translation services.
'When you acknowledge someone's language and culture, you break down barriers. As a local government, it is important that we speak the language of the residents we serve. It gives me great pleasure to partner with PanSALB as this collaboration will provide opportunities to develop appropriate service delivery models and employ new technologies and systems in the translation services sphere in order to break the communication barriers which still exist in our city. The City of Cape Town has found that more citizens are asking for material in their language of choice and are making their voices heard via the appropriate channels, and we have been able to successfully cater to this demand. This is truly encouraging,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Theresa Uys.
This collaboration adds to the opportunity to undertake research projects that will improve the City's customer engagements going forward and aligns with the City's vision of inclusivity.
The City offers services in all three official Western Cape (WC) languages, namely English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa and is committed to engaging customers in their preferred language.
Language is one of the systems we employ to ensure that our residents receive the services they deserve and become active citizens in matters that affect their communities.
The City's services include:
- Interpreting services at subcouncil, portfolio and Council meetings, disciplinary hearings and public participation sessions, as well as sign language interpreting, when required
- Use of any of the three official languages of the Western Cape in communication with the City, while residents must be responded to in their language of preference
- Publication of City notices and advertisements in all three official languages or in the language predominantly spoken in the specific area in the case of community newspapers
- Identification signs and directions to municipal offices or facilities displayed in all three languages or in pictorials. The three official languages are used equitably on local road signs and direction signs while preference is given to the language predominantly spoken as far as street name suffixes are concerned
- Translation of the subject heading and recommendations of all reports serving before Council into the three official languages
Caption 1: Attendees of the second PanSALB collaboration event with the City of Cape Town: Language practitioners and representatives from the City of Cape Town, Western Cape Government, National Government, various universities as well as other language institutions.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
