Justice & correctional services minister Ronald Lamola says 18 superior courts, which include the Supreme Court of Appeal, high courts and the Constitutional Court, have had generators installed to mitigate against load-shedding.
Lamola, who was presenting the office of the chief justice’s budget in the National Assembly on Tuesday, said equipping magistrate’s courts with generators was also ongoing.
However, the DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach said Lamola had “failed ... dismally” in combating load-shedding. “Too many courts ... are unable to function for a full court day, or sometimes at all. Particularly hard hit in this regard are the courts in smaller towns and centres, where the majority of South Africans must go to access justice.”
Breytenbach said it was a “disgrace” that cabinet members were protected by generators, but essential services such as courts were not.
She also expressed “deep concern over Lamola’s lack of support” for the office of the chief justice. This had resulted in a lack of appointments to vacant judicial positions, leading to “delays in the resolution of cases, and denying justice to many South Africans”. Courts were also underresourced, lacking not only judges, but also staff and infrastructure.
Breytenbach noted that even basics such as recording equipment were breaking down, and judges lacked access to law reports. She also spoke of “the dilapidated nature of some of the court buildings”, with some “currently uninhabitable”.
The office of the chief justice budget Lamola tabled comprised R1.3bn for voted funds and “a further direct charge to the National Revenue Fund” of R1.125bn for judges’ remuneration.
Lamola noted the judiciary “has to respond to broader social needs”, and had done so through its judgments. Lamola praised the current judiciary, saying “we have a judiciary committed to the rule of law and protection of human rights”.
DA MP Werner Horn noted that parliament had learnt about three former senior officials who were “implicated in major tender irregularities” regarding the electronic database, Caselines, used in the Gauteng courts. The database allows for electronic uploading of all court papers and documents, allowing for easier access for relevant parties. Horn said it was “of grave concern” that the office of the chief justice had not accounted to the portfolio committee about this issue.
Lamola noted that the office of the chief justice had completed its investigation into the matter, and it was now before the high court in Gauteng.
The Freedom Front Plus’ Frederik Mulder raised the issue that state capture and its impact on the office of the chief justice and courts had not been properly addressed.
Mulder noted that Lamola was a “supporter” of cadre employment, but “that cadre deployment was instrumental to state capture in the first place”. He also noted irregular expenditure was undermining the functioning of courts.
All the plans towards a single judiciary “on its own will not fix fundamental shortcomings, inefficiencies and other challenges that our judicial system experiences”, he said.
The recent Judicial Services Commission interviews showed judges were found to have made numerous mistakes and demonstrated “misunderstandings of foundational legal concepts”, Mulder said. He therefore supported further training of prosecutors and officers. Related to this, he called for Lamola “to critically assess” what happened in the recent state capture trial in the Free State, where the accused were discharged.
The EFF’s Yoliswa Yako, however, said that chief justice Raymond Zondo “ignored the core functions of his office” when he made public comments pertaining to former president Jacob Zuma and his relations with the Guptas. The reason for the EFF’s support of the budget, however, pertained to respecting the judiciary as a whole, even if the EFF had reservations about Zondo’s leadership.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.