Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee

Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio

Committee

Presentation by Mr. S Jiyane,

DDG Court Services

22 March 2006

STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION

The role of Court Services Who are we? What do we do Functional Components and Resources

2005 What we did with the Resources allocated Challenges met and how we seek to deal

with them Priorities Planning for 2006 and budget Conclusion

THE BRANCHCOURT SERVICES

STRATEGIC FOCUS

Linking budget to strategy:1. Ensuring access to justice for all

2. Enhancing Organizational Efficiency and

3. Transforming Justice

Court Services is dealing with the above through the following Programmes: Programme planning and judicial support Court Performance Vulnerable Groups Facility/Infrastructure Management Family Advocacy

PROGRAM 1Programme and judicial support

ISS Report on the IJS - August 2005

Paying for crime: South Africa’s spending on criminal justice

What do we spend on criminal justice and how has this changed?

How do we compare? What are the key stresses and what can

be done?

Growth rates in the criminal justice system over time•Although average growth in the CJS budget has generally exceeded that of the national budget, it has not done so every year. There are also important variations between the three departments.

•Between 1995/6 and 2007/8, all 3 CJS depts will have seen their budgets grow faster than the national budget and faster than provincial allocations.

•Between 1995/6 and 2001/2 all CJS departments’ budgets grew faster than the national budget. Justice (because of the creation of the DSO) and DCS did particularly well.

•Between 2001/2 and 2004/5, all three departments grew more slowly than the national budget as a whole and a good deal more slowly than allocations to provinces.

• Over the course of the MTEF, SAPS and Justice will grow a little faster than the national budget and at about the same pace as provincial allocations. DCS, however, will grow more slowly than both.

•CJS budgets have always grown faster than inflation, inflation plus population growth, and inflation plus population growth plus economic growth

Comparative growth ratesCJS and Provincial Allocations

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

10%

11%

12%

13%

14%

15%

16%

CJS 11.4% 12.2% 10.8% 10.3%

Provincial alloc 9.9% 7.2% 15.4% 10.0%

1995/96 to 2007/08 1995/96 to 2001/02 2001/02 to 2004/05 2004/05 to 2007/08

Nat. budgetgrows at 9.6%




Inflation of 5.7%

Inflation of 6.3%

Inflation of 5.4%

Inflation of 4.9%

Comparative growth ratesCJS and Provincial Allocation

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

10%

11%

12%

13%

14%

15%

16%

17%

18%

SAPS 10.8% 10.3% 11.6% 10.8%

Justice 13.9% 17.8% 10.1% 10.1%

DCS 12.2% 15.6% 8.9% 9.1%

Provincial alloc. 9.9% 7.2% 15.4% 10.0%

1995/96 to 2007/08 1995/96 to 2001/02 2001/02 to 2004/05 2004/05 to 2007/08

Nat. Budgetgrows at 9.6%




Inflation of 5.7%

Inflation of 6.3%Inflation of 5.4% Inflation of 4.9%

Average annual rate of growth of crime(1995/6 to 2001/02 vs 2001/02 to 2003/04)

-6.0%

-4.0%

-2.0%

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

1995/6 - 2001/2 -3.7% 2.6% 2.8% 7.1% 12.0% 1.4% -1.5% 2.7%

2001/2 - 2003/4 -3.8% -2.0% -0.7% 7.0% 2.9% -1.4% -4.6% -4.0%

MurderAttempted

murderAssault GBH

Agg. Robbery

Common robbery

Rape Car theft Burglary

Three basic conclusions:

•Despite the politics of crime, criminal justice spending as a whole has never grown significantly faster than the national budget.

• In early days of democracy CJS spending grew faster than national spending which grew faster than social services spending.

• More recently, this has been decisively reversed.

Conclusion to part one: What does it all mean?

This is NOT a scientific test of whether spending on social services does better than spending on CJS in reducing crime because (a) CJS spending was still rising, (b) there were more cops and (c) tactics were changing

It is, however, intriguing and suggests that prioritising social spending, whatever its other purposes, may also have an impact on crime levels.

This does not, however, mean that social services spending is a more cost-effective approach to reducing crime.

Per capita spending

A comparison of spending data for 1997/8 and 2004/5 reveals that on a per capita basis, SA spends significantly more on criminal justice than does the rest of the world.

In 2004, for instance, SA spent about $130 per person on criminal justice while the rest of the world spent only $66.

In 1997 the differential was $91 to $63.

Per capita spending on CJS(SA vs. world)

$-

$20.00

$40.00

$60.00

$80.00

$100.00

$120.00

$140.00

1997/98 2004/05

World SA

Part two: How much should SA spend on criminal justice?

Benchmarking South Africa’s spending on criminal justice reveals that we spend rather more than the international average both per capita and as a proportion of GDP

Spending as a proportion of GDP

•A comparison of spending data for 1997/8 and 2004/5 reveals that while the international average for criminal justice spending as a proportion of GDP was about 1%, in South Africa, spending has risen from about 2.7% in 1997/8 to 3.1% in 2004/5.

Spending on CJS as % of GDP(SA vs. world)

0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

3.0%

3.5%

1997/98 2004/05

World SA

Systemic issues

Growth in capacity has been uneven:

•Police personnel numbers have risen by 31%. The numbers in the NPA and courts, however, have grown by only 18% and 9% respectively. DCS’s accommodation has grown by 15%, but its staff numbers by only 8%.

•This pattern will be repeated over the next few years.

•Since the courts are slaves of the police and the prisons are slaves of the courts and police, uneven growth has the potential to create serious bottlenecks because more police should mean more arrests.

Growth in capacity(2000/01 to 2005/06)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

SAPS personnel Justice personnel NPA personnel Court personnel DCS personnel Prison space

Although looking at the three depts individually is important, the CJS must also be looked at as a system

Cases to court, prosecutions and withdrawals(1996-2003)

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Prosecutions Cases withdrawn Cases to court

The courts are already struggling to clear their rolls:

•Since 2000, the number of cases going to court has risen by 84%. The number of prosecutions has only grown by 31%.

•Withdrawals have increased by 42%, but that still leaves a growing number of cases stuck on the rolls. This amounted to more than 350,000 cases in 2003 alone.

ISS Conclusion

1 Spending levels have grown considerably

2 Spending, by international norms, is high

3 Capacity (measured by personnel per capita) is not excessive, but nor is it excessively low, BUT…

4 Measured in relation to murder rates, capacity is very limited

5 BUT: much more is probably unaffordable and, in any event, a reasonable case can be made that spending should prioritise social services (especially if that also helps reduce crime, though this may not be its principal purpose).

6 STILL: Rapid capacity growth in the police is not being matched by similar growth in Justice and DCS. This should be addressed.

7 BUT: to address growth needs in Justice and DCS at the expense of the police would be to ‘punish’ a department whose performance has improved. This would be perverse.

8 In the end, therefore, it is hard to conceive an approach to the CJS very different from the present one.

BUDGETARY ASPECTS

Budget 2005/06 Additional allocations Resource Utilization

Budget 2006/07 Additional allocations Priorities

HIGHLIGHTS IN TERMS OF THE 3 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE

DOJCD

The following slides will focus broadly on –

Service delivery improvement Access to justice for all Organizational Efficiency Transformation

Access to Justice for all

Specific activities in 2005 and 2006

Rationalization of courts – see input later Facilities – see input later Maintenance – see Operation Isondlo later Court Performance – see case flow initiatives

later Family advocacy – see input later

Transformation

Broad Transformation Initiatives Human Resource Development Strategy Pool from which women and black practitioners can be prepared

for appointment to the bench Professionalizing court support services through learner ships and

skills programmes including improving interpreter services Capacitating Family courts and Family advocacy Restructuring of the Justice College Development of a language policy for courts to promote the use of

African languages in court proceedings Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms to ensure

public participation in dispute resolution processes

Modernisation

Modernisation Programme IT: A major exercise providing judges, magistrates,

prosecutors and administrative personnel with such equipment has been completed. Out of 342 courts which have no IT connection 160 thereof would be connected by end of April 2006 and the reminder would be connected by end of June 2006.

For the courts impact are around: E-Scheduler (44 ICFM Centres and roll out to 40 more) Video postponements (piloting KZN) JDAS/ Maintenance Court Nerve Centre

Court Management

RAB…… Court managers…… Structure of Chief Justice…..

1. IMPACT OF THE CONSTITUTION TWELFTH AMENDMENT ACT, 2005

THE AIM OF THE ACT IS RE-DETERMINING THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS OF THE NINE PROVINCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. AS A CONSEQUENCE: WE NEED TO PROVIDE FOR MEASURES TO REGULATE, WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME, THE LEGAL, PRACTICAL AND ANY OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF THE RE-DETERMINATION.

ALL PROVINCIAL RE-DEMARCATION REPORTS AND GIS MAPS TO BE ALIGNED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONSTITUTION TWELFTH AMENDMENT ACT, 2005 AND THE CROSS-BOUNDARY MUNICIPALITIES LAWS REPEAL AND RELATED MATTERS ACT, 2005 (ACT NO. 23 OF 2005) IN ALL AFFECTED AREAS AND PROVINCES, SUCH AS, UMZIMKULU, MATATIELE (EASTERN CAPE AND KWAZULU-NATAL), PAMPIERSTAD (NORTH WEST AND NORTHERN CAPE), EKANGALA (MPUMALANGA AND GAUTENG), GROBLERSDAL (MPUMALANGA AND LIMPOPO), MAPULANENG AND MHALA (LIMPOPO AND MPUMALANGA), OBERHOLZER, KHUTSONG (GAUTENG AND NORTH WEST),GA-RANKUWA AND TEMBA (NORTH WEST AND GAUTENG), LYDENBURG (MPUMALANGA AND LIMPOPO)

RE-DEMARCATION OF MAGISTERIAL DISTRICTS

2. BUSINESS PLAN/PROJECT PLAN

MEETING WITH INTERNAL ROLE-PLAYERS

A MEETING TO BE HELD BEFORE THE END OF FEBRUARY 2006 BETWEEN INTERNAL ROLE-PLAYERS OF THE DEPT AND CERTAIN OUTSIDE AGENCIES, SUCH AS THE DEMARCATION BOARD TO DISCUSS THE WAY FORWARD.

NATIONAL WORKSHOP/PROVINCIAL MEETINGS

THEREAFTER A NATIONAL WORKSHOP WITH ALL RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS TO DISCUSS VARIOUS ISSUES, SUCH AS THE AMENDMENTS TO THE RE-DEMARCATION REPORTS, THE IMPACT ON HUMAN RESOURCES AT OUR COURTS, A DECISION ON HOW THE RE-DEMARCATION PROCESS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED, I.E PER PROVINCE OR ALL NINE PROVINCES AT ONCE, ACCOMMODATION ASPECTS, THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROCESS ON OUR COURTS, THE ROLE OF SHERIFFS, ETC.

IF NECESSARY, PROVINCIAL MEETINGS WILL FOLLOW THIS WORKSHOP

FINALIZATION OF GIS MAPS

THE DEMARCATION BOARD UTILIZED GIS MAPS TO DRAW THE MAGISTERIAL BOUNDARIES. THESE MAPS WITH THE NEW MAGISTERIAL BOUNDARIES WITH ALL THE AMENDMENTS NEEDS TO BE ABSORBED BY THE OFFICES OF THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL INTO EXISTING MAPS, CERTIFIED AND APPROVED. AFTER RECEIVING THE NEW MAPS FROM THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL, THE DOJCD WILL BE IN A POSTION TO MOVE TOWARDS FINALIZATION OF THE RE-DEMARCATION PROCESS.

COMPILATION OF MINISTER’S MEMORANDUM, GOVERNMENT NOTICE AND SCHEDULES

AS SOON AS ALL THE GIS MAPS OF EACH PROVINCE HAVE BEEN FINALIZED, CHECKED AND CERTIFIED BY THE OFFICES OF THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL, WE WILL APPROACH THE MINISTER TO WITHDRAW ALL PREVIOUS NOTICES AND TO ESTABLISH NEW MAGISTERIAL DISTRICTS AND COURTS IN TERMS OF SECTION 2(1) OF THE MAGISTRATES’ COURTS ACT, 1944 (ACT NO 32 OF 1944). THE GOVERNMENT NOTICE AND SCHEDULES WILL BE FORWARDED TO THE STATE LAW ADVISERS FOR LEGAL SCRUTINY.

PUBLICATION OF GOVERNMENT NOTICE AND SCHEDULES

WHEN THE MINISTER HAS APPROVED THE ABOVE-MENTIONED GOVERNMENT NOTICE AND SCHEDULES, THE GOVERNMENT PRINTERS WILL BE REQUESTED TO PUBLISH THE NOTICE AND SCHEDULES. COPIES THEREOF WILL BE FORWARDED TO ALL RELEVANT ROLE-PLAYERS.

TIMEFRAME, BUDGET AND LINK WITH RE-AGA BOSWA

SECTION 103(3)(a) OF THE CONSTITUTION TWELFTH AMENDMENT ACT, 2005 REFERS TO “WITHIN REASONABLE TIME”. TWELVE (12) MONTHS SEEMS TO BE THE STANDARD FOR A REASONABLE TIME IN INSTANCES SUCH AS THESE. THE BUDGET ALLOCATED FOR RE-DEMARCATION FOR THE 2006/2007 FINANCIAL YEAR IS R 2 MILLION.

INTERACTION WITH RELEVANT PARTIES WORKING ON RE-AGA BOSWA WILL ENSURE THAT THE HUMAN RESOURCES ARE ADEQUATE TO ADDRESS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROCESS.

Language Policy

Establishment of Joint Task Teams Draft policy document to be completed before the

end of the financial year 2006/07 Organize consultative forums with all stakeholders for

further inputs.

Presentation on Promotion of Multilingualism in Court Process

Principles Promoting and protecting linguistic diversity Supporting democracy through the entrenchment of language

equity and language rights. Viewing multilingualism as a resource Redressing the marginalisation of indigenous languages. Encouraging the learning of other South African languages

Contents of the Policy Language of Record and Proceedings Interpretation and Translations( including sign

language) Access to records for persons with disabilities Special redress for the marginalised languages, that

is, the African languages including the Khoe and San Languages.

Lay Assessors

Purpose of the project Establishment of Lay Assessors Committees Determination of the number cases Obtaining the number of assessors per site Identify budget needs Identify further rollout sites Fast-track the implementation of regulations

Pilot Sites Cape Town - R1,170 000.00 Emlazi – R448 615.00 Polokwane – R746 000.00 Port Elizabeth – R1,100 000.00 Pretoria – R3, 186 468.00 Protea North – R1,170 000.00 Upington – R255 820.00

Way Forward• Increase the number of pilot sites in the next financial year• Further rollout will be the following offices: Germiston, Kempton

Park, East London, Mitchells Plain, Nelspruit, Middelburg, Tzaneen and Bloemfontein.

Budget for Further Rollout

R10m set aside for the pilot project Each court room will be serviced by two assessors One lay assessor will be paid to a maximum of R36

000 PA In addition to allowances for lay assessors,

infrastructure costs is expected Projected amounts in the first and second year do not

take into account possible increases in fees. A further R15 000 000.00 will be required for next

financial year.

PROGRAM 2

COURT PERFORMANCE

COURT PERFORMANCE MANAGMENT Development of Court Nerve Centre

Measuring tool Statistics on Court Performance

Refer to the main document

REVIEW OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

This is a JCPS initiative led by DoJCS and based on approved Terms of Reference :

Review Team for political guidance, will be constituted by the Minister, DoJCD before the end of March 2006

Research Team to be constituted by the DG, DoJCD to conduct the actual research -nominations already requested from the JCPS cluster partners

Draft CJS Review Initiation Plan also submitted to the partners for input.

CJS REVIEW PLAN

Broad Project Initiation Activities for January to April 2006. Abudget of R5m for has been allocated to the CJS Review for 2006/7.

1. Develop/draft CJS Review project initiation plan and solicit JCPS partner inputs/comments

2. Establish Project Secretariat -Identify/assign Project Manager-Identify support staff for the Secretariat

3. Set up project office-Identify and secure project space -Source infrastructure needs 4. Engage JCPS cluster partners to :constitute the Review & Research Teams

commit resources 5. Coordinate the initiation of updating of previous CS review - Identify resources to

engage to update the Mulweli Report- Updating of the Mulweli 6. Facilitate the conducting of the CJS Review project scoping (to develop an

integrated CJS Review Plan including budget and capacity/resources) 7. Conducting of the review 8. Regular reporting

CASE FLOW MANAGEMENT

CFM is overseen by an National Integrated CFM National Committee – all partners represented

Established CFM governance structures - Provincial & Local Integrated Case Flow Management Forums in some courts chaired by the Judiciary (magistrates/judges)

CFM CENTRES

Already established at 44 courts where the eScheduler is deployed as an enabling tool

CFM Planning Tool/Template developed and being tested in Pinetown, KZN Regional Court Division, Western Cape High Court.

CFM Guidelines developed by DoJCD, NPA and lower Court Judiciary, being implemented

CFM Training of Judicial Cluster/SubCluster Heads initiated Oct 05 and continues to apply guidelines and CFM planning tool

AUDIO VISUAL CASE REMAND SYSTEM

Exploiting technology to remove security risks and logistical nightmare associated with daily transportation of ATD’s between court and prison, and free time & resources in the system for trial ready cases.

Currently being piloted in Durban, Pinetown & Westville prison in KZN since Oct 05

Targeting only remand cases where no juveniles are involved Continuously optimizing procedures to operate the system

between court & prison

Number of cases processed through the system since implementation/piloting of the system in Oct 05 : October 05 – 87 cases November 05 – 437 December 05 – 404 January 06 – 363

Draft legislation to be with Minister 1st quarter of 2006 Outcome of the pilot - impact assessment will be conducted

after 6 months – May 06 Excellent court stakeholder cooperation must be applauded in

KZN for the testing of this system

AUDIO VISUAL CASE REMAND SYSTEM cont.

CASE e-SHEDULER

Deployed at 44 district criminal courts and being stabilized System currently operating on distributed database platform

(each court with own server and database) System adapted to the web based version (centralized) to

enable all to access the system database centrally for better performance

Testing the web base version, by end March 06 all 44 sites will be converted from distributed version

April 06 – next 40 sites to be deployed with the web based central access version

Court Performance cont.

Development of the new Quality Management Framework The new function on QM for courts is being redefined to be relevant to courts and

enhance overall performance. The setting of service standards inline with Batho Pele principles will underpin the new QM role. Relevant bodies/institutes like SABS and TQM Institutes will be interfaced with in this exercise. This will be a paradigm shift from the current policing approach to quality assurance/inspecting of offices.

Backlog of cases / Monitoring Court Performance

It is clear that court performance is not only dependant on additional resources, but on management at court level (and here the judiciary have a crucial role)

RAB as support mechanism ICFM Centres Dedicated Courts (Commercial crime; hijack; drugs; environmental; community courts) Additional capacity/courts Review of CJS Court Nerve Centre

Court Nerve Centre

The Court Nerve Centre was established to provide a framework for measuring court performance that will reflect the court system as a system of closely interlinked processes and tasks in the integrated justice system.

For this purpose all court managers are required to submit monthly returns to the respective area court managers. In this process District Court Managers, appointed at main seats of court, are responsible for the collection of information from the main seat and the courts linked to the main seat (i.e. branch and periodical courts

Returns to be submitted

The returns to be collected are collected at three levels: the “Monthly Court Return” contains detailed information on

court “occupancy” which is captured at a court room level; the “Monthly Return” contains workload information on other

activities and functions performed in a magistrates office (civil matters, criminal matters and family law related matters) and other court activities (such as estates, lay assessors, appeals and divorces) which is captured at a court house level; and

the “Monthly Establishment Returns” contains information on the establishment (human resource capacity) which is captured at a court responsibility level (a responsibility centre being a main court, that manages branch and periodical courts)

These levels are shown in the next slide

Levels for Data Collection

EstablishmentReturn

Monthly Return

Monthly Court Return

NationalOffice

ProvinceGauteng

ProvinceFree State

Administrative AreaBloemfontein

District:Bloemfontein

Responsibility Centre

Bloemfontein

Service Centre / Office

Bloemfontein

Production UnitCourt A

Administrative AreaWelkom

Service Centre / OfficeBathu

Production UnitCourt B

District:Welkom

ProvinceWestern Cape


District:Boshof


Welkom

Service Centre / Office

Welkom


Production UnitCourt B

Responsibility CentreBoshof


Dealesville


Hertzogville

Court A

Area 1

Region

Court A

Court A

Court A

Court A

Area 2

Court Nerve Centre

Court Services

INFORMATION FLOW

INFORMATION FLOW

Court Performance

The next slides provides information of the court performance

DEDICATED COURTS

Commercial, Community and other dedicated courts will be continued with as part of the strategy to ensure that courts focus on productivity as a measurement of success. Our strategy is to deal with these courts as part of our court structure and to ensure that the other courts also receive additional attention and resources so that all courts can deliver improved services.

The current model of community courts is to be integrated into the original concept intended to focus on enhancing community justice through strengthening traditional courts in rural areas and relevant structures in the townships.

Commercial Crime Courts:April 2005 to December 2005

Court NameNew Cases

Cases Removed Cases FinalisedOutstandingRoll

Withdra-wals

Diver-sions

Warrant issued

CasesTransfer-red Other Guilty

Not Guilty 31 December 2005

DURBAN 381 48 0 30 31 4 239 4 198

JOHANNESBURG 276 63 0 31 1 3 115 8 291

PORT ELIZABETH 123 23 0 7 17 2 94 15 91

PRETORIA 237 75 0 25 0 0 248 13 229

TOTAL 1017 209 0 93 49 9 696 40 809

Commercial Crime Courts There are 4 Commercial Crime Courts in the RSA at present

Durban (established during 2005) : New cases: 381; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 113;

Finalised guilty verdict: 239; Finalised Not Guilty: 4; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 198

Johannesburg : New cases: 276; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 98;


Port Elizabeth (established during 2005) : New cases: 123; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 49;


Pretoria : New cases: 237; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 100;


Community Courts There are 15 Community Courts in the RSA at present

Bloemfontein : New cases: 1 273; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 332; Finalised guilty

verdict: 940; Finalised Not Guilty: 1; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 0

Cape Town : New cases: 6 131; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 3 089; Finalised

guilty verdict: 3 146; Finalised Not Guilty: 40; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 0

Durban: New cases: 3 510; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 980; Finalised guilty

verdict: 2 551; Finalised Not Guilty: 10; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 161

Hatfield (two courts) New cases: 3 744; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 2 388; Finalised

guilty verdict: 1 460; Finalised Not Guilty: 76; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 412

Community Courts (cont.) Mitchells Plain:

New cases: 4 271; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 5 377; Finalised guilty verdict: 501; Finalised Not Guilty: 77; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 216

Phuthaditjaba: New cases: 471; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 295;


Protea - Lenasia: New cases: 213; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 77;


Thohoyandou: New cases: 2 979; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 2 373;


Community Courts (cont.) Johannesburg – Hillbrow :

New cases: 1 498; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 17; Finalised guilty verdict: 1 486; Finalised Not Guilty: 2; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 0

Kimberley : New cases: 446; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 375;


Kwa-Mashu : New cases: 3 457; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 1 373;

Finalised guilty verdict: 1 819; Finalised Not Guilty: 9; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 298

Mankeng: New cases: 255; Removed from roll (withdrawal, warrants issued, etc.): 50;


Community Courts (cont.)

Umtata: New cases: 2 996; Removed from roll (withdrawal,

warrants issued, etc.): 2 817; Finalised guilty verdict: 160; Finalised Not Guilty: 4; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 59

Wynberg - Fezeka: New cases: 1 869; Removed from roll (withdrawal,

warrants issued, etc.): 1 013; Finalised guilty verdict: 869; Finalised Not Guilty: 126; Outstanding Roll as on 31 December 2005: 321

A framework for the establishment of these courts is receiving attention by the Department together with the NPA and the Magistracy. This is to ensure that the Department is now able to account for the investment of these resources and monitor the returns though proper mechanism to monitor the performance of these courts.

In the past the Saturday and additional court project was extremely successful. Between 2001 and 2004 such courts finalised an additional 76 836 cases

Additional Courts

Small Claims Courts: Statistics for 2005

There are 154 Small Claims Courts in the RSA at present covering 219 magisterial districts (out of 366). 35 new such courts are planned for 2006/07 as well as circuit courts to enhance access.

Eastern Cape: Inquiries: 6507; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 423; Summonses

issued: 1549; Trials: 1182;

Free State: Inquiries: 2115; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 1449; Summonses


Gauteng: Inquiries: 31164; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 2674; Summonses


KwaZulu-Natal: Inquiries: 8575; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 1971; Summonses


Small Claims Courts, continued: Limpopo:

Inquiries: 7489; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 523; Summonses issued: 3082; Trials: 2081;

Mpumalanga: Inquiries: 10617; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 664; Summonses issued:

1724; Trials: 1040;

Northern Cape: Inquiries: 620; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 184; Summonses issued: 464;

Trials: 512;

North-West: Inquiries: 5160; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 95; Summonses issued: 533;

Trials: 546;

Western Cape: Inquiries: 24922; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 610; Summonses issued:

3920; Trials: 3994;

Totals: Inquiries: 97168; Litigants referred to legal assistance: 8593; Summonses issued:

22370; Trials: 20069.

PROGRAM 3Specialised Programmes for

Vulnerable Groups

Vulnerable Groups

Activities: Victim Service Charter and victim empowerment Specialized court services (Sexual offences/ equality /

SCC) Family Courts Child Justice / Children’s Courts Family advocacy Maintenance improvement project JHB and roll out Restorative Justice

Equality Courts: 220 equality courts designated countrywide More courts still to be designated in the 2006/7 financial year 657 cases reported so far in our equality courts (from 2003 up to date). Topping the list in terms of the statistics are KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng

provinces. The provinces reporting the least number of cases are Free State, Northern

Cape and Limpopo. This has been attributed to lack of awareness amongst the members of the

public. The department will vigorously embark on public awareness campaigns

aimed at raising awareness 88 Judges and 815 Magistrates and 334 Clerks have been trained by

Justice College. Training will be done on an on-going basis until we have a large number of trained court personnel

Shortage of court personnel (clerks) is affecting the effective and efficient operation of the equality courts

135 temporary clerks of the equality court were appointed during 2005/6 financial year – they are to be appointed permanently in the 2006/7 financial year

Service Charter for Victims of Crime

Implementation of the Service Charter for Victims at Courts: Service Charter publications, pamphlets and posters,

have been printed in all official languages and Braille. 80 Toll-Free Line Officials were trained in all provinces

and 36 toll free lines were established. Training and briefing sessions for Court managers and

other personnel were held in 9 provinces. A needs analysis for courts has been conducted for

implementation in the new financial year.

FAMILY COURTS To date some of the key strategic priorities espoused in the family court

implementation plan have been implemented: Appointed legally qualified personnel to assist the court user, more

especially in the area of Maintenance-68 Maintenance Officers and 425 Administrative Clerks;

Training: clerks of the courts in the family law streams have received training, in all nine Provinces and this is a continuous endeavour: 225 in 2005;

Facilitating training for all the newly appointed legally qualified personnel, focusing not only on the “Black-letter” aspects but also on Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and Social Context;

Facilitating the finalisation of the Family Law Learnership and the recruitment of interns;

Assist with the finalisation of establishment of Divorce courts and the mainstreaming thereof; and

Facilitating the development of a case management system for family law services, which would have ripple benefits in terms of Monitoring and Evaluation, standardising workflows, unblock administrative flaws, and turnaround times with cases.

Child Justice

The number of Children Awaiting Trial in Correctional Centres, has decreased as follows:

From 2200 monthly average in 2003; to 1696 in November 2004; to 1668 in December 2004; to 1109 in November 2005. Statistics are captured in table format below.

The National Instersectoral Child Justice Steering Committee is working well and will further support the establishment of provincial Child Justice Fora and local Case Review Task Teams.

Children Awaiting TrialUNSENTENCED CHILDREN AS FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO DECEMBER 2005

2005

REGION Dec-04 Jan Feb March Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec-05

Kwazulu Natal 435 488 593 427 427 392 382 394 339 357 324 320 360

Gauteng 284 258 227 204 273 262 260 249 236 230 196 196 219

Western Cape 259 261 310 280 349 268 235 205 185 154 160 177 171

Eastern Cape 387 394 172 332 353 300 258 270 258 245 229 242 250

Free State/ Northern Cape 149 146 137 170 153 166 142 136 139 186 159 149 165

Limpopo/ Mpumalanga/ North West

154

N/A

61 49 75 89 81 76 72 62 59 73 70

Baseline information –Operation Isondlo

Gauteng:

1. Pretoria: Enquiries set down: 1806; No. of non-payments: 285; Sect. 31’s: 285; No. of o/s warrants: 321; Inactive files: 7593; No. of cards monies not collected: 502; Total no. of files: 19750; No. of officials: 32.

2. Soshanguve: Enquiries set down: 279; No. of non-payments: 86; Sect. 31’s: 89; No. of o/s warrants: 85; Inactive files: 2113; No. of cards monies not collected: 1384; Total no. of files: 5823; No. of officials: 15.

3. 15 Market Street, Jhb: Enquiries set down: 125; No. of non-payments: 1681; Sect. 31’s: 107; No. of o/s warrants: 465; Inactive files: 23000; No. of cards monies not collected: 2080; Total no. of files: 83642; No. of officials: 29.

4. Germiston: Enquiries set down: 2123; No. of non-payments: 700; Sect. 31’s: 403; No. of o/s warrants: 54; Inactive files: 56; No. of cards monies not collected: 35; Total no. of files: 4680; No. of officials: 6.

Operation Isondlo continued:

Free State: Bloemfontein: Enquiries set down: 200; No. of non-

payments: 150; Sect. 31’s: 50; No. of o/s warrants: 576; Inactive files: 584; No. of cards monies not collected: 233; Total no. of files: 19834; No. of officials: 13.

Phuthaditjhaba: Enquiries set down: 187; No. of non-payments: 35; Sect. 31’s: 70; No. of o/s warrants: 180; Inactive files: 557; No. of cards monies not collected: 13; Total no. of files: 2378; No. of officials: 5.


KwaZulu-Natal: Durban: Enquiries set down: 597; No. of non-payments: 232;

Sect. 31’s: 18; No. of o/s warrants:183; Inactive files: 364; No. of cards monies not collected: 1020; Total no. of files: 17227; No. of officials: 13.

Ntuzuma: Enquiries set down: 387; No. of non-payments: 1665; Sect. 31’s: 35; No. of o/s warrants: 256; Inactive files: 3900; No. of cards monies not collected: 3123; Total no. of files: 12000; No. of officials: 6.

Emlazi: Enquiries set down: 402; No. of non-payments: 1500; Sect. 31’s: 10; No. of o/s warrants: 6; Inactive files: 2180; No. of cards monies not collected: 4125; Total no. of files: 15199; No. of officials: 5.

Operation Isondlo, continued:

Limpopo: 1. Thabamoopo: Enquiries set down: 160; No. of non-

payments: 916; Sect. 31’s: 916; No. of o/s warrants: 74; No of Inactive files: 4000; No. of cards monies not collected: 79; Total no. of files:8355; No. of officials: 5.

Mpumalanga: 1. Mkobola: Enquiries set down: 59; No. of non-payments:

998; Sect. 31’s: 115; No. of o/s warrants: 119; Inactive files: 771; No. of cards monies not collected: 29; Total no. of files: 1384; No. of officials: 5.

2. Nsikazi: Enquiries set down: 8861; No. of non-payments: 1172; Sect. 31’s: 84; No. of o/s warrants: 135; Inactive files: 8319; No. of cards monies not collected: 4935; Total no. of files: 13254; No. of officials: 3.

Operation Isondlo continued: Eastern Cape:

1. Port Elizabeth: Enquiries set down: 3127; No. of non-payments: 625; Sect. 31’s: 171; No. of o/s warrants: 625; Inactive files: 5000; No. of cards monies not collected: 70; Total no. of files: 30000; No. of officials: 15.

2. Mdantsane: Enquiries set down: 95; No. of non-payments: 165; Sect. 31’s: 9; No. of o/s warrants: 48; Inactive files: 337; No. of cards monies not collected: 228; Total no. of files: 11021; No. of officials: 3.

3. Grahamstown: Enquiries set down: 201; No. of non-payments: 177; Sect. 31’s: 136; No. of o/s warrants: 82; Inactive files: 312; No. of cards monies not collected: 3; Total no. of files: 7874; No. of officials: 6.

4. Queenstown: Enquiries set down: 161; No. of non-payments: 40; Sect. 31’s: 11; No. of o/s warrants: 19; Inactive files: 213; No. of cards monies not collected: 36; Total no. of files: 1356; No. of officials: 2.

Operation Isondlo continued: North-West:

1. Odi: Enquiries set down: 2976; No. of non-payments: 371; Sect. 31’s: 1747; No. of o/s warrants: 1292; Inactive files: 1400; No. of cards monies not collected: 276; Total no. of files: 23781; No. of officials: 10.

2. Bafokeng: Enquiries set down: 277; No. of non-payments: 337; Sect. 31’s: 337; No. of o/s warrants: 297; Inactive files: 2100; No. of cards monies not collected: 222; Total no. of files: 6719; No. of officials: 9.

3. Rustenburg: Enquiries set down: 190; No. of non-payments: 155; Sect. 31’s: 13; No. of o/s warrants: 47; Inactive files: 748; No. of cards monies not collected: 37; Total no. of files: 7500; No. of officials: 4.

4. Mankwe: Enquiries set down: 13; No. of non-payments: 1200; Sect. 31’s: 13; No. of o/s warrants: 25; Inactive files: 1660; No. of cards monies not collected: 15; Total no. of files: 4359; No. of officials: 2.

Operation Isondlo, continued:

Northern Cape: 1. Upington: Enquiries set down: 372; No. of non-


2. Kimberley: Enquiries set down: 754; No. of non-payments: 522; Sect. 31’s: 330; No. of o/s warrants: 76; Inactive files: 300; No. of cards monies not collected: 2; Total no. of files: 2000; No. of officials: 10.


Western Cape: 1. Mitchell’s Plain: Enquiries set down: 115; No. of non-


2. Khayelitsha: Enquiries set down: 2880; No. of non-payments: 347; Sect. 31’s: 126; No. of o/s warrants: 69; Inactive files: 3500; No. of cards monies not collected: 11784; Total no. of files: 16104; No. of officials: 6.

3. Phillipi: Enquiries set down: 183; No. of non-payments: 1100; Sect. 31’s: 114; No. of o/s warrants: 146; Inactive files: 500; No. of cards monies not collected: 270; Total no. of files: 50353; No. of officials: 8.

PROGRAM 4FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

BUDGET 2005/2006

Items Amount

Capital Works R258 134 M

RAMP (Additional) R 50 000 M

Day to Day Maintenance R 11 000 M

Infrastructure Upgrading R 36 146 M

GG Vehicles R 27 000 M

Total R382 146 M

FOCUS FOR 2005/2006

Condition Assessment for all courts Improving security in the court buildings Rehabilitation and Maintenance of existing

courts Provision of new and Additional Facilities Provision of prefab structures as interim

accommodation (16)

RAMP

15 new facilities registered on Work Control System (WCS) with original Capital Works Allocation

All these 15 sites are in the process of being Rehabilitated

Additional R50mil made available for RAMP Additional 40 projects registered with the funds Status quo analysis conducted on all 40 facilities to

determine the scope of work for Rehabilitation This brings to 92 the total of facilities on

Rehabilitation and Maintenance phase

RAMP 2006/2007

100 New facilities to be registered on RAMP Improvement of sanitation in Courts in Rural

Areas

CAPITAL WORKS

12 Major Capital works completed in 2005/2006

2 new buildings for Randburg and Atteridgeville Magistrate court

Major Additions in Ceres, Benoni, Vredendal, Brixton, Uitenhage, Pretoria-North, Polokwane, Umtata, Sasolburg and Heidelberg

CAPITAL WORKS 2006/2007

10 New Court buildings to be constructed Major additions planned for 7 other buildings A total of R10 Mil set aside for Improvement

of accessibility for people with disability

SECURITY

312 Offices/Courts out of 555 have been provided with fulltime Guarding Service

470 in-house court security officers have been appointed

216 Courthouses receiving Cash In Transit Services Successful conclusion of the envisaged Management

of Monies In Trust (MMIT) project will transfer the risk of cash handling to private sector

Security (continues)

1x Ray machine purchased for the Constitutional Court

136 Offices equipped with alarm system 180 offices identified for installation of burglar

bars in effort to improve physical security

SECURITY 2006/2007

Additional 373 sites identified for provision of Guarding Services

Cash In Transit services to be provided for in 362 offices

136 sites to be provided with Alarm System Total Budget of R150 000 000.00

FOCUS FOR 2006/2007

Continue with upgrading of Security Improve accessibility for disabled people in court buildings Continue with the Rehabilitation and Maintenance program Continue with condition monitoring for all facilities Construction of new facilities and Major Additions to existing Replacement of Old Coat of Arms Provision of Mobile Structure as interim measures

FOCUS FOR 2006/2007

Provide Signage in all facilities Development and implementation of Facilities

Management System Enhancement of Virtual Library Project Identification and Acquisition of site for new buildings Building Capacity for Management of Devolved

Budget from Department of Public Works

BUDGET 2006/2007

Function BudgetINFRUSTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Capital Works R268 138 M

RAMP R 50 000 M

Accommodation Charges R109 444 M ***

Leases R114 192 M***

Municipality Services R 87 697 M***

Day to Day Maintenance R 21 500 M***

Upgrading of Infrastructure R 38 315 M

GG and Judges Vehicles R 28 836 M

Libraries / High Court R 2 000 M

Sub-Total R718 845 M

SECURITY

Guarding Services R 40 000 M

Cash In Transit R 50 000 M

Physical Security Infrastructure R 17 865 M

Subtotal R107 865 M

TOTAL R826 710 M

BUDGET 2006/2007 A total of R233 389 Mil has been transferred from the

Department of Public Works as part of the Devolution of Budget

An additional amount of R70 000 Mil to be transferred for Planned Maintenance

The department to continue utilizing the DPW expertise in project management

SLA to be entered into with Public Works with regard to the management of budget

The department to look at capacity building for the purpose of management of the budget allocation from Public Works

PROGRAM 5FAMILY ADVOCACY

Court Services and DOJCD Challenges

In general, the following remain challenges:

Courts have been under funded for years and as a result they have not been able to meet the demands that were brought by a plethora of legislation passed after the advent of the constitutional order.

Staff shortages at courts, particularly to deal with maintenance matters, domestic violence and victim support work (i.e. relating to the implementation of new legislation), leading to poor service delivery (long queues etc.) in some areas.

Lack of culture of management through information, to proactively manage courts based on court performance information

The capital works programme, which is a medium to long-term programme makes it difficult to address historical imbalances in relation to access to courts in previously disadvantaged areas.

Corruption in relation to management of monies in trust is still present.

There is an urgent need to strengthen the administrative support to the Chief Justice and Heads of Courts, the Judicial Services Commission and the Magistrates’ Commission.

Priorities for 2006 Roll out RAB Transformation of judiciary including alignment JSC

and MC CJS Review Legislation: 6 Bills Security Creation of court capacity Improving court support services Monitoring court performance

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee

Documents

Transcript of Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee