Latest news with #Docrat
The South African
5 days ago
- Business
- The South African
Are your emojis breaking workplace rules?
On World Emoji Day, Thursday, 17 July 2025, South African companies are being encouraged to introduce formal policies regulating the use of emojis in workplace communication, following concerns that their meanings may be misinterpreted and potentially lead to legal or reputational issues. This guidance was highlighted in a recent webinar presented by Dr Zakeera Docrat. The session warned that while emojis are widely used in casual messaging, their increasing presence in professional spaces requires a more cautious and structured approach. 'Emojis carry different meanings depending on context, culture, and even age,' said Docrat. Something as simple as a smiley face or heart emoji could be interpreted very differently by recipients and may raise concerns around professionalism or harassment.' Examples raised during the webinar included emojis like 👀 (often read as suggestive), 😋 (which can imply desire), or a hug emoji, which might be taken as inappropriate depending on the nature of the conversation. The legal experts noted that employers should update codes of conduct, social media guidelines, and employee handbooks to include references to emoji use. They stressed the importance of involving staff in these policy updates, allowing room for discussion and clarity. Rather than relying solely on online sources like Emojipedia, companies were advised to consult experts such as forensic linguists when drawing up emoji-related workplace rules. Docrat also recommended that businesses consider restricting or banning emoji use in official workplace channels such as WhatsApp groups or client communications. 'If you're unsure whether an emoji is appropriate, it's best not to use it,' she added. 'Emojis can enhance communication, but they also carry risks if used carelessly.' As digital communication evolves, organisations are now being challenged to strike a balance between modern expression and professional standards – ensuring that what's meant to be friendly doesn't end up being offensive. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
TimesLIVE
5 days ago
- General
- TimesLIVE
Smile or fruit, beware of the emoji you send — especially at work
Red heart, banana and peach emojis may look innocent — and they are. But in what context and sequence are you using them? That's what could be problematic with the emojis you love sending. Dr Zakeera Docrat, the University of the Western Cape's forensic and legal linguist, has warned people to think about the messages they send with emojis, especially in the workplace. Speaking at a webinar under the theme: 'Beyond the smile: Emojis, communication and misinterpretation in the modern workplace', Docrat said one should be careful of the emojis they send. She urged companies to develop policies that regulate communication in the workplace. 'It would be dependent on what you want to control within the specific workplace but you can never have one policy that would be applied and adopted across various spaces, that would never work. It needs to be a policy that is specific to your needs and as a forensic and legal linguist, it's always good to consult us and to say, these are the issues that we have. 'We need to formulate a policy that controls the behaviour and communication practices. It has to be something that's updated quite frequently,' Docrat said. What do we deem as appropriate workplace communication? 'A lot of the emojis are open to interpretation, it's based on context, the nature of the relationship between you and the recipient ... If there is a power dynamic between you and another colleague, is it appropriate for you to be sending them an emoji? Is it an appropriate response to send an emoji? Why are you doing it? 'The role of gender is also important and for me it influences the power dynamic, especially if it is a senior male colleague. If a male colleague sends me a red heart emoji, and I don't have that type of relationship where I know them very well and I get sent a heart, I would immediately be offended.' So, do you know what the emojis you love sending mean and are they appropriate to send to your colleagues? 'What are you communicating with your emoji? Take for an example the tongue out emojis. Are you joking or are you being insulting?' Docrat, who testified in the Judicial Conduct Tribunal hearing into sexual harassment against Eastern Cape judge president Selby Mbenenge, said emojis mean different things to different people. Andiswa Mengo has accused Mbenenge of sexually harassing her over eight months in 2021 and 2022. She has testified that not only did he send her unwanted sexually explicit WhatsApp messages, but had attempted to solicit oral sex from her in his chambers and sent her a photo of his penis. Said Docrat: 'When we talk about the analysis or interpretation of emojis, we can't be divorced in a sense from the culture and the language in which the emojis are being used. It is very important for an expert, and I don't want to say [expert should] be from that culture or know that language but [the expert] has to have an association [with the culture or language it is being used]. 'You have to be able to read the context. Understanding the language that is being used in a written text, understanding the culture is extremely important.' Emojis with sexual connotations included a peach and eggplant with water droplets used in sequence; an eggplant, banana, lips, lip biting, also used in sequence. 'We would never associate a doughnut or a pointing finger emoji with having sexual connotations but if we're using them in these sequences, you will notice that it means something. You don't even need to use any text to understand what is being represented here,' said Docrat. 'If you look at the eggplant, the banana, the lips, the biting of the lips, there's a specific sequence. The heart eyes emoji, the hearts around the face emoji, all these have sexual connotations. 'The [use] of hearts emojis are context specific. If somebody is sending me a white heart emoji, am I associating it with sympathy? Others might say it is pure love. [When you send the] black heart, are you saying somebody has got a black heart, are they evil perhaps or do they have evil tendencies?' Selective emojis with harmful connotations include a coffin, knife, bomb, axe, blood, faeces and tombstone. 'What happens when you send the coffin emoji or the tombstone or the blood emoji to somebody? What are you really saying? If you are sending [a coffin or tombstone emoji] in the context of a funeral ... but should you really be sending these emojis?
eNCA
15-07-2025
- eNCA
SA makes history in forensic and legal linguistics
JOHANNESBURG - Dr Zakeera Docrat is the first South African elected to the executive board of the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics. Forensic and legal linguistics is the study of language and its role in legal systems, and it's a relatively new field in Africa. But since 2017, the country has emerged as a key contributor, thanks largely to the groundbreaking work of Dr Docrat, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of the Western Cape.
IOL News
11-07-2025
- IOL News
UWC's Dr Zakeera Docrat makes history
Dr. Zakeera Docrat from UWC has been elected to the Executive Board of the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics (IAFLL) - making her the first South African in the history of the association to occupy such a position. Image: UWC In a landmark moment for South African academia and the continent, UWC's Dr Zakeera Docrat has been elected to the Executive Board of the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics (IAFLL). She is the first South African in the history of the association to occupy such a position. Her four-year term will begin in August. The announcement was made this month during the IAFLL's 17th Biennial Conference and Annual General Meeting. Forensic and legal linguistics - the study of language and its role in legal systems - remains a relatively new field in Africa. But since 2017, South Africa has emerged as a key contributor to its growth, thanks largely to the groundbreaking work of Docrat. She holds the distinction of being the first person in South Africa to obtain a PhD in African Languages with a focus on forensic linguistics, and is currently the country's only practicing forensic and legal linguist. Docrat made history in May this year as a forensic linguistics expert when called as a witness to testify in a case of sexual harassment, and asked to interpret the meaning of emojis used in text exchanges between two parties. She was called to give expert insight and interpretation into the alleged sexually-charged use of emojis by suspended Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge and High Court secretary Andiswa Mengo, and spent more than five hours testifying before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Her election to the IAFLL Executive Board also marks her as only the second academic from Africa to serve on the Board, following Professor Eliseu Mabasso from Mozambique. Reflecting on her appointment, Docrat said: 'It's a great honour for me to have been elected to the executive board of the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics. It's an even greater honour given that I'm the first South African to be elected to the board in its history, but also only the second African to be elected after Professor Mabasso, who also currently still serves on the board. 'I'm looking forward to learning a lot from him and having him guide me on the processes of making representations for the Global South in particular.' The academic scholar applauded the efforts in recognising women in research and academia. 'I think it's been a long time coming that we will be represented on the International Board, and the support that has been offered during the course of the conference this past week - from outgoing President Dr Jennifer Glougie from Canada and incoming President Professor Tammy Gales from the USA - has been overwhelming,' said Docrat. 'Both are extremely strong women in leadership, but also in academia. To have them back me as a young female scholar in South Africa and within the international community has been truly humbling. I'm also thankful for the broader executive - it has a stronghold of powerful women leaders in the field of forensic linguistics, and the conference over the past week has been illustrative of the number of women researchers in forensic and legal linguistics globally.' Cape Times
Daily Maverick
03-07-2025
- Daily Maverick
Mbenenge tribunal — expert explains emoji code origin, but not human interpretation
The alternative and deeper meanings humans attribute to emojis were explored at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal hearing for Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge on Thursday. When forensic, legal and linguistic expert Dr Zakeera Docrat testified at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal of Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge in May, her qualifications – a BA Hons (cum laude), a LLB MA (cum laude) and a PHD from Rhodes – were vigorously interrogated by Mbenenge's legal team. At stake that day was the interpretation of emojis sent between Mbenenge and Andiswa Mengo, a court secretary, in a series of messages between June 2021 and November 2022. The 64-year-old Mbenenge has not denied the 'relationship' with Mengo and has remained insistent it was consensual. Tribunal president, retired Judge Bernard Ngoepe, has opened a new frontier during this landmark inquisitorial process, including the surgical excavation of the semiotics (meaning) of emojis used by both parties in this matter. In September 2023, a three-judge panel of the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) ruled that there was a prima facie case to be made of gross misconduct against Mbenenge, which, if confirmed, could lead to impeachment. Mengo, 41, lodged the complaint with the JSC in January 2o23. Mbenenge was placed on special leave. The tribunal investigation began in January this year. The communications between the two consisted of WhatsApps using emojis, photographs (some of which were deleted), as well as communication in isiXhosa. When is a peach a peach? When is a peach a peach and an eggplant an eggplant? What does the ear with the hearing aid mean, or the dripping syringe? Back in May, advocate Muzi Sikhakhane, representing Mbenenge, seemed surprised to learn late into her expert testimony that Docrat spoke isiXhosa fluently and was thus able to read and understand the messages she was asked to testify on. Sikhakhane had told Docrat that his team planned to bring their own expert. And so on Wednesday, Dr Vincent Mello, who has a doctorate from Unisa and is a member of the Unicode Consortium, which aims to standardise emoji coding, testified. He said he was an 'independent' operator who worked for various companies, which he declined to name. Unicode, Mello told the tribunal, is what enables a device to select from around 3,600 emojis, and their code, for messaging platforms to facilitate quicker communication. How deep is your love? If Docrat's evidence to the tribunal was 3D in depth, scope and nature, Mello's expertise was code-deep, bottom floor – looking at the architecture that holds the code. Docrat had testified that Mbenenge's use of a banana, peach, eggplant and dripping syringe emojis had 'sexual connotations' and had indicated that he had wanted to be intimate with her. 'This was not a discussion about vegetables,' she replied at some point, concerning the peaches and eggplants. Docrat testified that Mbenenge's advances were, in her opinion, unwanted, and Mengo's responses – often featuring 'hysterical laughing' and 'embarrassed monkey' emojis – were because she did not know how else to react, as he was her boss. Mechanical code Mello methodically and mechanically went through the evidence he had prepared, addressing the technological architectural code involved. He informed the tribunal that he also used Emojipedia as a resource. 'When you type the word 'running', for instance, you will be given the option of choosing an emoji of someone depicted as running,' he said. Later, during cross-examination by evidence leader advocate Salomé Scheepers, Mello was asked to do exactly this on a phone other than his own. When the emoji failed to reflect, he agreed that not all applications or versions allowed for this. He said he had observed the use of emojis on 'approximately' 189 occasions in this matter, including 'rolling on the floor laughing', the 'see no evil monkey', the 'winking face', 'the thinking face', 'the flushed face', 'winking face with tongue', 'squinting face with tongue', 'eyes', 'folded arms', 'raising hands', 'crossed fingers', 'face palm', 'smiling face with halo'… on and on he went, counting each time Mbenenge or Mengo used one. He said Mbenenge had used emojis 97 times while Mengo had done so 69 times. When asked about the peach and the eggplant, which he had not yet highlighted, he replied, 'The peach would be the bum and the eggplant the male private part.' This kind of talk is mild considering some the descriptions that have been put before the tribunal, including that Mbenenge had allegedly also pointed to his erect penis in his trousers on one occasion, allegedly saying, 'You want to suck it?' Mello agreed that he could not testify on the deeper meaning people attached to standardised emojis and that he did not have any forensic legal linguistic expertise to do so. He also acknowledged that he had not published any research that had been peer-reviewed, that anyone could join the Emoji Consortium, and all they had to do was pay a membership fee. He also told the tribunal that he conducted his research out of interest in this bold new technological frontier.
