General

Court translator laid to rest after sick bed

peter-phasumaneTHABAZIMBI – Practitioner of languages and well-known translator at the Thabazimbi Magistrate and Regional Court, Peter Phasumane, passed away on 24 February and was buried on Sunday 1 March.
The 51 year old Peter, also nicknamed Andy by his friends, family and colleagues, could speak 11 different languages, and served as an employee of the Department of Justice in Thabazimbi for 30 years. He could speak Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu, Portuguese, Afrikaans, English, Northern and Southern Sotho, Shangaan and Shona.
Peter, a diabetic, fell sick in August last year and never returned to his job at the court house. In October he suffered a stroke from which he never recovered. He lost his ability to speak and was hospitalized until his death in February.
Peter was born in Holfontein in the Rustenburg district and received primary and secondary school training there. Once finished with high school he attended the Phapama Commercial School, where he was trained as a typist and started his career at the Department of Justice in Thabazimbi on 15 February 1979. Through self study he developed his knack for languages and became language practitioner at the court.
Peter leaves his wife of 27 years, Dorah, and three children, George, Theodora and Natasha, as well as one grandchild, Veronica. He also leaves three brothers, one from Thabazimbi and 2 from Pretoria and one sister (from Rustenburg).
According to an emotional Dorah “my husband will always be in our hearts and we will try to walk in his foot steps. He used to tell us before he became very sick, to love each other and to be strong for him – and we did. He was our everything,” she says.
Peter was buried from the Lutheran Church on Sunday 1 March.