Language inequality still a reality in South Africa

From an article on the Small Claims Court in the Southern Suburbs Tatler, our local freebie newspaper:

The third case that afternoon involved a Xhosa-speaking man who, apparently, did some building work for a Xhosa-speaking homeowner and did not get paid for it. The two parties could not converse in English, and the commissioner had to rely on a friend of the defendant to translate. It soon became apparent that the arguments were too complex for the now bewildered commissioner to make a ruling without the presence of an official translator. The case was postponed.

So they may still get a ruling eventually, but it will be more difficult. Unfortunately language inequality is still a reality in South Africa.