1. Legislation
2. Court Efficiency
3. Personnel
4. Training
5. Disciplinary matters
6. HIV/Aids and Disability; Equity; Employee assistance
7. Office of the CFO and financial aspects
8. Agency Services
9. Accommodation
10. Security

This report has as objective to:

3. Give feedback on outstanding issues raised at the 2000 Departmental/Portfolio briefing sessions;

3. Give the reader an overview of some of the challenges facing the Department in transforming the administration of justice and improving the delivery of efficient court services. The Department is presently in the process of re-structuring to meet these challenges head-on. As a result various new Business Units have been established and their business plans will largely be a particular focus of the briefing session; and to

3. Present a basis for interaction with Portfolio members concerning matters regarding the administration of justice.

Space constraints make it impossible to present in this briefing document a detailed picture of the activities of the Department. The annual report as well as other documentation that have already been made available or will be made available to the Committee therefore underpins and amplifies the content of this document.

1. Legislation
2. Personnel
3. Disciplinary matters
4. HIV/Aids and Disability; Equity; Employee assistance
5. Unauthorised expenditure
6. Agency Services
7. Accommodation and Security

With regard to Legislation, I wish to point out that an update on issues in this regard as well as a comprehensive overview of the legislative program will be provided during the briefing by the Champion of the new Business Unit dealing with legislative matters.

There are currently 14 High Courts in South Africa and nine Divisions of the Regional Court (Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Mmabatho, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Umtata). There are approximately 365 regional courts sitting on any given day, although this number is not constant. With regard to district courts, there are 369 magisterial districts throughout the country, in which 718 district courts are situated. The distribution of the country’s 369 magisterial districts, by province, is given in the Figure below.

Distribution of magisterial districts by province

While Gauteng has the least number of magisterial districts (23), the Eastern Cape has the greatest number (80). Clearly, the number of districts in a province is related to geographical size. However, the population size to be served in a province is also taken into account when determining the number of magisterial districts. The Northern Cape illustrates this point: although this province is the largest geographically, it has the smallest population to serve, and is therefore divided into only 26 magisterial districts.

As indicated above, a total of 718 district courts are functioning in the 369 magisterial districts. The courts are either main courts, branch courts, detached offices or periodical courts.

1. Geographical distribution of courts

It should be pointed out that the comparison of the total number of lower courts per province should be approached with caution: courts differ greatly in terms of the number of actual courts sitting at each court. Naturally, provinces with vast geographical areas to cover (such as the Eastern Cape) will have a greater number of courts than those with a small geographical area to cover (such as Gauteng). However, the actual number of court rooms in total in such provinces may be on a par, or even greater in densely populated provinces (such as Gauteng).

In view of the fact that the Director-General of the Department and the Minister are no longer in a position to give direct instructions to magistrates (as a result of the independence of the office of magistrate in 1993), it became necessary to institute the cluster system. The system, instituted by the Magistrates Commission, consists of a pyramid-like structure within each province. The purpose of the cluster system is to ensure a certain degree of control of district magistrates by senior magistrates, and of senior magistrates by the heads of clusters (chief magistrates).

Naturally, the cluster system in no way encroaches on the judicial independence of magistrates since no direct or indirect pressure may be exerted on the judgement of magistrates. The purpose of the control is to ensure effective functioning within the clusters, and control covers matters such as the keeping and gathering of court statistics, training, reviews, and decisions relating to who presides in which court and where. There are at present 13 such magisterial clusters.

The Table below gives an indication of the number of criminal cases recorded (less admissions of guilt, since these do not proceed to trial); the number of civil cases recorded; and the number of hours worked at all district courts. This information enables one to determine the number of criminal cases per court, the number of civil cases per court and the number of hours worked per court (the reader is reminded of the fact that it is the total number of hours worked per court for the 1998/99 reporting year). For the convenience of the reader, selected information is also presented graphically in the Figures hereunder.

Gauteng has the greatest number of criminal cases recorded per court (1 315, or 16% of all criminal cases), while KwaZulu-Natal has the least (439, or 5% of all criminal cases). Gauteng also has by far the greatest number of civil cases recorded per court (12 258, or 37% of all civil cases). This is more than twice the number of civil cases per court recorded by the province with the next highest number namely, Western Cape. Clearly, Gauteng is the seat of civil litigation in the country.

The interpretation of number of hours worked per court must be approached with extreme caution, since the courts differ greatly in respect of their size (i.e. in respect of the actual number of court rooms per court). In terms of number of hours worked per court, Western Cape ranks first, with 1 927 hours per court. After Western Cape, the four provinces to be visited by members of the Committees recorded the greatest number of hours per court.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of civil cases recorded per court

Number of hours worked per court

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) collects a comprehensive set of information relating to the performance and efficiency of the courts. Although the information is collected manually, strict control is maintained by the control prosecutors in each cluster to ensure that the information is as accurate as possible. The offices of the Directors of Public Prosecutions are the nodal point for the collection of NPA statistics. The categorisation of the information is therefore per High Court division. Each division is then divided into a number of clusters (some 31 in total). These clusters do not coincide with the cluster system that has been developed by the Department Justice. However, from the information available, and by re-organising the clusters, it is possible to present a provincial picture of the information collected by the NPA.

The information collected by the NPA is collated on a monthly basis, and covers inter alia the following: The number of courts in each cluster; the number of court days; the total number of court hours; the average court hours per court; the number of cases withdrawn; the number of cases finalised with a "guilty" verdict; the number of cases finalised with a "not guilty" verdict; and the number of case outstanding on the court roll.

Information relating to the months of September, October and November 2000 is given in the Tables below. The first Table relates to the district courts, and the second Table to the regional courts. The NPA advised that although the information is already available, it is not useful to present the information in respect of December 2000 and January 2001, since these two months are not "normal" months in respect of court functioning (because of the holiday season stretching over December and January), and will give the reader a skewed picture of the efficiency of courts.

It should be noted that the number of district courts reflected in the Table below does not correspond with the total number of district courts, since courts that function with a single prosecutor are excluded from the analysis. These courts are reflected separately by the NPA, and are not included here due to space constraints. The exclusion of these courts is due to the fact that single-prosecutor courts are mostly situated in deep rural areas, where, more often than not, a full court roll is the exception rather than the norm. The inclusion of court efficiency information in respect of these courts would create bias in the country-wide picture. The information in respect of periodical district courts as well as periodical regional courts are also excluded from the Tables hereunder.

The average number of hours per court per day is quite similar for district and regional courts, with district courts sitting approximately four hours per day, and regional courts, slightly less than four hours. Of the cases tried in the district courts (i.e., excluding cases withdrawn), a guilty verdict is obtained in, on average, 80% of cases. This figure is 63% in the case of the regional courts. The more serious nature of the cases tried in regional courts may account for this difference.

Detailed information on court efficiency in each province is given in the Table below. Due to space constraints, the information relates only to the district courts (excluding single-prosecutor courts and periodical district courts), and contains only the items "average court hours per court", and "outstanding court rolls".

Average court hours per court, by province: November 2000

 

 

 

 

 

Number of cases outstanding on the roll, by province: November 2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average case backlog per court, by province: November 2000

 

 

In addition to the above detailed court efficiency information relating to September, October and November 2000, the most recent information (March 2001) in respect of case backlogs is as follows:

1. The national average for outstanding district court rolls is approximately 170 cases per court.
2. There are 304 district courts for which the court roll is in excess of the above national average.
3. District courts are on average finalising only 29 cases per court per month.
4. In the following 16 district courts, the court roll stands at more than 300 cases per court: Taung = 573; Idutywa = 446; Lusikisiki = 424; Thabankulu = 597; Tsolo = 398; Wentworth = 535; Verulam = 849; Stanger = 640; Umbumbulu = 443; Bellville = 317; Kuilsrivier = 311; Oudtshoorn = 480; Somerset West = 327; Sekukune = 310; Thaba Moapo = 362; and Naphuno = 355.
5. The regional courts are finalising in total approximately 3 500 cases per month, which is less than 10% of the total outstanding roll (the outstanding regional court roll has remained fairly constant since June 2000 at between 46 000 and 50 000).

The Department has a number of initiatives in the courts that are aimed at improving efficiency, access to justice and service delivery. A selection of these are briefly described below.

The Court Process Project (this will be dealt with also in the IT/E-Justice business plan section) The present court management system is inefficient, with major bottle necks in the handling of vast numbers of documents and files on a daily basis. This leads to postponements of court hearings and, in some instances, to cases being struck off the roll. In the light of the above, the Court Process Project was developed, approved and funded by the Integrated Justice System as a fast track project.

The project aims to develop amongst others a docket management and event notification system between the police, prosecution, courts and prisons. A central aspect of this project is the emphasis on change management. The project will facilitate a management process that will allow officials from each of the departments in the criminal justice system to effectively communicate

with each other and manage the relevant process in an integrated manner. The main objective of the Court Process Project is the re-engineering of the work-flow and business processes which are followed in both criminal and civil cases in magistrates’ courts. The project aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the magistrates’ court system. The scope of the project is to implement an electronic court administration business solution in Johannesburg and Durban magistrate’s courts (criminal and civil) by the end of May 2001. The project envisages inter alia the following benefits: reduced time to trial; reduction in the number of missing documents; accessible information; reduced paperwork; resource scheduling; timely notification; and data integrity.

Major outputs to date have been the following:

1. The project charter and the project plan have been developed and are in place.
2. The proposed electronically-based court system in both the criminal and civil courts has been designed.
3. The legislative changes needed for the criminal court process have been identified.
4. Installation at the development sites at Johannesburg and Durban is almost complete.
5. A human resource training plan has been completed and work on a skills audit in respect of basic computer training needs has started.
6. An extensive communication strategy is in place to obtain the necessary "buy in" of all role-players.

It is envisaged that the court process project will lead to a reduction in case backlogs; a return of case cycle times to acceptable norms; the reduction in the size of the awaiting trial population; and the institution of an effective management information system.

To deal more effectively with the backlog relating to awaiting trial cases, the Integrated Justice System (IJS) Board approved the launching of an Awaiting Trial Prisoners Project (ATP) during 1999. Pilot sites were established at Durban, Empangeni, Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. Local management structures were instituted at each site and an integrated approach to the problem was adopted. Collective actions were identified within the Departments of Justice and Constitutional Development and Correctional Services, and the South African Police Service, to reduce the number of awaiting trial prisoners. All cases are reviewed on an individual basis by a case review team consisting of investigators, prosecutors and correctional services officials.

A change implementation team representing the relevant departments, in consultation with the case review team consolidate recommendations for implementation on a continuous basis. A management team oversees the activities of each pilot project and help solve problems that may arise.

From the information gathered in all the reports, it was discovered that delays in the finalisation of trials causing the over population of prisons by awaiting trial prisoners cannot be attributed to only one department involved in the criminal justice system. Problems leading to delays were identified at each stage of the process of case finalisation.

Following an evaluation of the pilot projects, and the submission of a roll-out document to the IJS Board, the IJS Project Office was requested to brief all provincial managers on the methodology of the project in order that they could decide at which courts and prisons they would establish ATP projects. ATP projects have subsequently been established at the following additional magistrate’s offices: Middelburg, Wynberg (Western Cape), East London, Mdantsane, and Umtata.

The outcome of the ATP projects at the pilot sites can be described as follows:

1. By the end of March 2000, the average detention cycle time of offenders whose cases had been reviewed was reduced by 40% (i.e. from 122 days to 87 days).
2. The circumstances of offenders were positively influenced by speeding up trial dates; setting affordable bail; withdrawing cases with no prima facie evidence; and finalising cases sooner.
3. Problematic issues that came to the fore were addressed on a continuous improvement basis by establishing corrective actions. Examples of these issues are subpoenas not completed properly; incomplete investigations; queries made by the public prosecutor and not complied with; addresses of accused not verified; alibis of accused not followed up; prosecutors not sufficiently prepared for trial; prisoners not brought to court on time; and dockets not sent back timeously for further investigation.

Special courts dealing with sexual offences were established as a pilot project in Wynberg in the Western Cape in 1993. Due to the success of this project, the Department is expanding the project to other provinces. A National Task Team was established to oversee the extension of the project. New courts with complete facilities for use as sexual offences courts have been built at Pietermaritzburg, Grahamstown, Somerset West, Mossel Bay, Soweto and Atlantis. Apart from this, approximately 180 courts countrywide have been equipped with closed-circuit TV and/or one-way mirrors for the giving of testimony by witnesses in such cases. The personnel involved in the courts are well trained in methods to deal with the victims and witnesses in these types of cases. Specialised training of prosecutors leads to higher rates of conviction. Cases are handled expeditiously and efficiently and victims are not as reluctant as in the past to testify against perpetrators because of the reduced possibility of intimidation by accused persons and secondary victimisation.

The Department identified the establishment of Family Courts as a priority to address the urgent need in the community for the types of services which are offered by such courts. A Family Court Task Team, appointed by the Minister of Justice in February 1997, recommended the establishment of Family Court Pilot Projects which would begin to address the needs of the community, and would also provide experience to inform the creation of a permanent family court structure. Family Court Centres were established at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Mitchells Plain, LebowaKgomo and Johannesburg.

Family Courts consist of a Divorce Court, Maintenance Court, Children’s Court and a Family Violence Court. The Department envisages a family court structure which -

1. has its own identity;
2. is accessible to the community;
3. is sensitive to the needs of the community;
4. operates according to simple, appropriate procedures;
5. offers counselling and mediation support services; and
6. provides quality service in a pleasant user-friendly environment.

The Pilot Family Courts are monitored on a regular basis. Following evaluation, and subject to the availability of funds, the pilot initiative will be extended to the rest of the country.

Commercial Crime Courts

A special court to deal with cases involving fraud, white collar crime and other types of commercial crime has been set up as a pilot project in Pretoria. The need for specialised commercial crime courts was identified when it became apparent that the backlog in respect of these cases was reaching an unacceptable level. The Investigating Directorate: Serious Economic Offences of the NPA, with the co-operation of the Department, took the lead in setting up the first commercial crime court on 1 November 1999. This initiative is being carried out as a partnership with the business (particularly the banking) community. The success of these courts is being monitored, with a view to the future extension of the initiative to other areas in the country.

The Integrated Justice System Court Centre concept is an initiative of the IJS Project Office. The rationale of the IJS Court Centres is to provide a single nodal point from where the entire court process is managed, with a view to reducing the average court cycle time of cases.

The IJS Court Centres consist of the following role players:

1. Experienced public prosecutor;
2. SAPS investigation official;
3. Experienced Local Criminal Record Centre official;
4. Correctional Services official;
5. Social Development probation officer;
6. SAPS court liaison official;
7. Preferably, a public defender; and
8. Preferably, the control prosecutor.

The functions of the IJS Court Centre are to -

1. enhance docket and charge sheet control (and thereby minimise corruption);
2. manage awaiting trial prisoners;
3. schedule court rolls (the task of the control prosecutor); and
4. ensure that cases are ready for trial.

Provincial IJS Boards have been requested to identify magistrate’s offices in their province where IJS Court Centres can be established on a pilot project basis. The particular offices to be identified would ideally be those experiencing greater than average problems with case backlogs. An IJS Court Centre has been functioning extremely successfully at Port Elizabeth

magistrate’s office for some time, and another has been in operation at Middelburg in Mpumalanga for the past four months. The initiative is also in the final planning stage at Odi magistrate’s office at GaRankuwa.

The Department, in co-operation with the NPA, initiated Saturday courts and established additional courts as an urgent intervention to deal with the unacceptably high level of case backlogs, particularly in the regional courts. As already indicated, the outstanding district court roll is approximately 170 cases per court, and the total outstanding court roll for the regional court is between 46 000 and 50 000 cases.

The initiative has the co-operation of all role players (i.e. the SAPS, the Department of Correctional Services and the legal fraternity), since the running of courts on Saturdays requires the participation of all the usual court officials, including attorneys.

Chief Prosecutors in identified areas were requested to approach the relevant role players to establish if they would be willing to participate in Saturday courts. Funds which could not be utilised by the NDPP before the end of the current (2000/01) financial year were identified for the initiative, and were allocated for the overtime payment for prosecutors, magistrates, stenographers, security personnel and clerks of the court. The Department of Correcitonal Services and the SAPS agreed to cover their own costs.

It was decided that the focus of the Saturday courts would be on the regional courts. In certain isolated cases (such as Heidelberg, Bronkhorstspruit, Humansdorp and Uitenhage), district courts requested to participate in the project. A total of 84 courts in 47 places were operated on Saturdays from 17 February 2001. Over a four Saturday period, these courts sat a total of 1 586,5 hours, with courts averaging five hours per Saturday. This represents an improvement of more than an hour per day on the national average. Only trial ready matters are dealt with, and postponements or bail applications are not considered.

In addition to Saturday courts, additional courts were instituted for the month of March 2001. Former magistrates and prosecutors were recruited for this purpose. Thirty-eight such courts participated during March 2001, sitting approximately 844 hours (an average of 3h38 per court), and disposing of 244 cases. This is clearly not at the same level of productivity as that of the Saturday courts, but is still an improvement on the average number of cases normally disposed of per week.

The Saturday courts have generally achieved outstanding success and the initiative is being continuously reviewed. Funds will be made available by the Department to cover the costs of the judiciary and clerical staff for the months of April and May 2001. The NPA has indicated that it has the funds to cover the costs of prosecution for the Saturday courts for the next six months. The Department is in the process of approaching Cabinet for approval to extend the project for the next six months. It is hoped that the extension of the project will include district courts.

As part of the transformation process in Government, the Department began examining its functional or service delivery boundaries in 1994. This process was placed on hold while the Municipal Demarcation Board completed its task of re-drawing municipal boundaries. With the gazetting of the new municipal areas, the Department was able to re-institute the process of the re-demarcation of magisterial boundaries.

This process involves the constitution of representative Regional Steering Committees, whose task it is to consult with all stakeholders and examine the boundaries of every magisterial district in each province, with a view to, wherever possible, aligning the boundaries to those of the new municipal areas. The principles according to which this process is being undertaken are the following:

1. access to courts;
2. the numbers of people being serviced in an area (i.e. population density);
3. the prevalence of crime and civil litigation in the area;
4. existing infrastructure (courts) in an area; and
5. the need to provide cost-effective services.

Once Regional Steering Committees have completed their review and consultation process, a report containing their recommendations in respect of the boundaries of all magisterial districts in the province will be submitted to a National Steering Committee. The actual boundaries of all recommended magisterial districts will be described with the aid of the latest electronic mapping systems currently in use by the Office of the Surveyor-General. The National Steering Committee will then proceed with the necessary steps to ensure the declaration of the new magisterial districts, with the approval of the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development. It is envisaged that this process will be finalised by June 2001.

1. Personnel

With regard to Personnel the following feedback can be provided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the convenience of the reader, two graphs are given below: the first Figure depicts the distribution of magistrates posts in the provinces (chief, senior and magistrates, excluding those stationed at national office), and the second Figure indicates the distribution of prosecutors posts in the provinces (senior and prosecutors, excluding those stationed at the NPA).

Prosecutors posts, by province

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It should be pointed out that the additional work at magistrate’s offices that has become necessary as a result of, in particular, the implementation of new legislation (such as the Domestic Violence Act, 1998 (Act 116 of 1998) has placed severe pressure on the available human resources at such offices. To alleviate the situation, many courts appointed temporary units to assist with the additional work load. However, the budget for human resources for the 2001/02 financial year appears to be less than that required for the number of approved posts; fewer persons can therefore be employed.

The Department has for some time been involved in a rationalisation process, whereby a work study investigation is conducted at an office and the establishment of the office is adjusted and updated. In some cases (such as in the former independent states), this has meant a downscaling of the establishment. The supernumery staff are then transferred to offices where a staff shortfall has been identified. This process of rationalisation has not been completed. Furthermore, the process of the re-demarcation of magisterial district boundaries, which is currently underway, and which is referred to in another section of this report, will also impact on the rationalisation of offices.

Most of the people in the justice system are legal professionals. Vocational training is therefore a major area of concern. In order to meet the challenges set out in Justice Vision 2000, all Departmental officials will inter alia have to be:

· Well trained

· Professional

· Sensitive to people’s different cultural experiences

· Sensitive to people’s different race and gender experiences

· Respectful to everybody’s dignity and human rights

Justice College is the official Departmental training institution of magistrates, prosecutors, interpreters and other court officials for both compulsory pre-appointments as well as voluntary post-appointment training. Except for providing functional legal training to officials of the Department, the approach of Justice College to the development of a human rights culture in South Africa in the context of the formation of an independent judiciary has been to integrate reference to the Constitution, constitutional values and human rights and social context issues in all the courses offered.

One of the main challenges of Justice College has thus been to raise the awareness of race, gender and related issues within the Judicial System. It has therefore been decided that the most significant contribution we can make towards this goal is to ensure that, apart form developing a programme of training wherein human rights and social context is fully integrated in each subject we present, we also broaden our course objectives and themes to provide for specific training on human rights and social context issues.

Recognizing that the relatively low level of experience of prosecutors and magistrates who are expected to function in the Lower Courts constitutes a major impediment to transformation in the administration of criminal justice, Justice College, in conjunction with the Magistrates Commission and the National Prosecuting Authority prioritized the development of entry-level magistrates and prosecutors. One of the important challenges of the College is therefore to, on an ongoing basis, develop and provide training programmes that is responsive to and meets the needs of these new or entry-level officials. A further challenge facing the College is to provide intensive "in service" training to magistrates and prosecutors who have not yet had the benefit of a training course and who still lack the basic how with regards their core functions.

In an attempt to transform the College and to give effect to the principles of employment equity, the face of the College changed drastically since 1997.

4 Indian

One of the major achievements of the College in the recent past was the creation of a specialized training programme for entry-level prosecutors. (A similar compulsory training programme for entry-level magistrates has been presented since 1993). Since June 1997, six training programmes (sometimes referred to as "fast-track training") have been presented to aspirant prosecutors. The intensive "in service" training of the aspirant prosecutors takes place under the guidance of experienced tutors for a period of six months. Due to the success of this programme, the National Director of Public Prosecutions decided that no prosecutor would in future be appointed on a permanent basis without successfully having completed the training programme.

In view of budgetary constraints, Justice College approached various donors to fund the development and presentation of training programmes for permanent magistrates and prosecutors who have not yet had the benefit of a training course. This programme also entails the appointment of tutors who will be responsible for the "in service" training of these officials on a decentralized basis. Although we are hopeful to receive more funding from donors, we recently received grants from USAID and the British High Commission to implement such programmes. Training in terms hereof commenced in April 2001. The French Government recently (during April 2001) indicated their willingness to donate funds to enable us to extend the programme and we are currently finalizing arrangements in this regard.

With the assistance of the Law, Race and Gender Unit (LRGU) of the University of Cape Town, Justice College succeeded in developing and presenting various social context-training programmes for officials of the Department. The first was four intensive courses on social context in judicial decision making for magistrates (two courses), prosecutors (one), and interpreters (one). These courses were jointly certified by Justice College and UCT. All the lecturers at Justice College also attended one of these intensive social context courses. The second component was the social context curriculum development project. Workshops for this purpose were also jointly presented by Justice College and LRGU. The aim of the 5 workshops that were held was to initiate thinking amongst law teachers about how social context issues (of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability etc) impact on the law and on their approaches to teaching. It has engaged law teachers across SA in reworking their legal materials to incorporate social context issues. Five workbooks were created. The workbooks are unique compilations of South African and foreign materials on social context and diversity issues pertaining to law subjects and the teaching of law. Justice College lecturers are using the workbooks to revise their notes in terms of the social context model, as well as to redesign their approach to particular courses.

Apart from the integration of race, gender and related issues in the content of our subjects and our course outlines, Justice College has also started the last couple of years to present two to three day workshops that deal specifically with these issues. This ensures that the training received by court officials is not limited to traditional civil law and criminal law courses anymore. Our year program has been broadened so that they can now also attend shorter intensive workshops that deal specifically with domestic violence, maintenance, child law etc.

This also includes special projects funded by International agencies, which train court officials on specific issues such as violence against women. An example of such a workshop is the Justice personnel-training project on violence against women that was design by an interdisciplinary advisory committee made up of NGO’s and Justice College. This course for the first time includes socio-psychological issues such as Rape Trauma Syndrome, the cycle of violence and, most importantly – how to treat victims with respect and dignity. This course was successfully tested on groups of magistrates, prosecutors, clerks and interpreters. The Project also produced a trainer’s manual as well as a participant’s manual with additional information for participants to the training.

Apart from the integration of human rights in all our course material, Justice College had also, as part of the Canada-South Africa Justice Linkage Project, presented a series of Human Rights Workshops to magistrates and prosecutors. These workshops were held in various regions in the country (East London, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Kimberley). Each workshop took place over a two-day period. The lecturers included human rights experts, judges, academics, legal practitioners and Justice College lecturers.

The College recently formulated training courses on the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2 of 2000 and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 3 of 2000 in order to sensitize Departmental officials in this regard. A number of these courses have already been presented during 2001. Officials of other Departments have expressed a desire to attend these courses and they are encouraged to attend the training sessions. The College also recently partook in discussions concerning the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 4 of 2000. It is envisaged that training courses will be presented country-wide to all presiding officers of equality courts in the near future.

Justice College is extremely effective in it’s mission. During 1997/1998, the College presented training to 1312 magistrates and 1610 prosecutors. During 1998/1999 the College presented training to 938 magistrates and 450 prosecutors. During the same year the College also presented training of 772 officials of other Departments. Budgetary constraints however led to a decline on the number of people trained during 1998/1999. During 1999/2001 the College presented training to inter alia 310 criminal court magistrates, 226 civil court magistrates, 534 prosecutors, 58 aspirant prosecutors and 77 interpreters. A total of 76 magistrates received specialized social context training, 190 received training on the maintenance legislation and 42 child welfare officers received training. A total of 104 officials of the Department received training on the principles of administrative justice. In view of it’s importance, the College launched a special training programme on Domestic Violence and 223 magistrates, 183 prosecutors and 226 clerks of the Department received training in this regard.

Despite the previous budget cuts and drop in attendance figures, it would be safe to say that few other Government Departments demonstrates a similar commitment to the training and development of its Human Resources.

In addition to the above training, training for financial and administrative staff is also receiving increased attention and a tender for co-sourcing training efforts was awarded at the end of last year.

With regard to disciplinary matters the following feedback can be provided.

At the end of September 1999 it was reported to the Justice Parliamentary Portfolio Committee that there were 480 old outstanding matters in the Department. It was however subsequently discovered that statistics in respect of the Free State Regional Office (33 matters) were omitted . This was rectified and the figure changed to 513 outstanding matters .

At the end of July 2000 , as reported to SCOPA , this figure had been reduced by 54% to 231 . At the end of November 2000 this figure stood at 153 , a further 34% decrease

Please see the table below .

The above information can be represented graphically as follows :

The histogram above indicates the progress made in terms of reducing misconduct matters between July 2000 and the end of March 2001 .

3. Achievements

Training of 324 presiding and investigating officers to deal with misconduct matters during February 2000-April 2000

3. Challenges/priorities

5

With regard to these aspects the following feedback can be provided:

The policy was reviewed and distributed to the role players for their comments and inputs and it is in its final draft. The policy was criticised because some of the role players thought that it is impractical and it will not serve the needs of the officials who are affected and infected but those uncertainties were addressed. The aim is to expedite the final draft of the reviewed policy so that the policy should be operational before June 2001.

OBJECTIVE 2: To demonstrate the Department’s commitment in the fight against HIV/AIDS

To support government’s initiatives by participating in national events

To organise special events at National and Regional level

The Department together with other government departments are in partnership to fight the fast spreading HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country through activities such as national events ( World AIDS Day) and by informing and educating the people of this country about the danger of this epidemic. The Department has managed to carry out its mandate by participating in the HIV/AIDS calender year initiated by the Department of Health by organising special events for the officials and members of the public at National and Regional level, e.g National Condom and STD Awareness Week, School AIDS Week, Partnership Week, Red Ribbon Month etc. The budget for the special events especially at Regional level was not sufficient. The greatest challenge is to encourage White colleagues in National Office to participate on issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS. As it is, the matter seems to be a " Black Affair". To deal with these challenges, it has been recommended that the budget for HIV/AIDS programmes should be increased, and that a questionnaire be developed to determine the reasons for/against attending to HIV/AIDS matters.

Condom dispensers were bought and distributed to the National and Regional Offices. Condoms are distributed to the officials and customers of the Department for consumption. A total number of 11 250 condoms at National Office for the year 2000 were distributed. Condom dispensers at National Office were installed on the walls with the use of two-sided stickers but didn’t last long and some dispensers fell and broke. The management of Merino Building disallowed the installation of condom dispensers in their building, they indicated that it is a private building. The officials in National Office were hesitant to take condoms because they were worried about what other people will say about them. To deal with these challenges it has been recommended that the dispensers should be attached permanently on the walls when the Department moves to a new building; and that condom dispensers be installed in private places. Officials in the Department will also be encouraged to take condoms and protect themselves against STD’s and AIDS.

OBJECTIVE 4: Provide training on lay counselling to Regional Focal Persons

Training was scheduled for last year, but could not take place. It will now be taking place in June 2001.

A questionnaire was developed and circulated to all Regional Offices. The responses that were received were used to create a database to establish the number of people with disabilities within the Department. The challenge in this area is to come to a common understanding on exactly what constitutes a disability so that all people with disabilities are recognized and are captured within our database. Since the Department of Labour has recently published a Code of Good Practice on People with Disabilities recently, our Department will seek audience with them to clarify uncertainties with the definition as contained in the Employment Equity Act.

A draft document was developed and has undergone an extensive process of development and consultation with the relevant stakeholders. A fourth draft have already been developed. Because there are certain proposals within the policy that may be contentious, the draft will be put before the Departmental Chamber for consultation and resolution. The draft policy will be scrutinised to check whether it is in tandem with the recently published Code of Good Practice.

OBJECTIVE 3: Raising employees’ awareness around disability issues

Posters and charts pertaining to various disability matters have been circulated and distributed to all Regional Offices with the aim of sensitizing employees and how they should treat people with disabilities. The challenge remains to carry on with the awareness raising campaigns up to the stage where people with disabilities are no longer discriminated against and are treated as "normal" people within the workplace.

Two people per Region were identified and nominated to be Regional Focal Persons. These people will champion the cause of people with disabilities within the Regions. Structures to deal with disability matters have also been established. The challenge in this arena is to keep the Focal Persons and their committees interested in disabilities issues and to encourage them to come up programmes for people with disabilities. To further this National Office officials will keep in touch with the Regional Focal Persons and their Committees and also visit the provinces to ensure that there are programs running and provide them with support.

OBJECTIVE 5: Monitoring the situation of disabled people during recruitment and selection processes.

The Department has formulated an Employment Equity policy which awaits presentation to the Departmental Chamber for consultation. One of the proposals in the policy document is the setting up of a numerical target in the recruitment of people with disabilities. The challenges that faces us in this respect is to ensure that the recruitment and selection process is guided by the relevant Employment Equity Plans. The Department will continue monitoring the recruitment and selection processes.

3. OBJECTIVE 1: To conduct a train-the-trainer workshop.
4. To identify and appoint Regional Focal Persons.
5. To train Regional Focal Persons as trainers for the Regions.

The identified focal persons were successfully trained as trainers. The workshop was a resounding success. All uncertainties pertaining to the relevant Act were clarified. Notwithstanding budgetary constraints, an exercise of this nature is extremely beneficial to the Department and should continue to be practised for more than one reason. Firstly, it is a labour and time saving tool as the workload is distributed evenly amongst the trainers in the regions. Secondly, it is cost effective as the trainers are situated in the regions.

3. To establish an Employment Equity Consultative Advisory Committee (EECAC).

An EECAC were successfully established both at National office and in the Regions. The EECAC was composed of all stakeholders, viz, representatives from the designated and non designated groups, nominees from representative trade unions and representatives from management. Securing the attendance of representatives from trade unions was problematic. However, once a contact person was identified communication became easier. In some Regions the travelling costs of representatives made it difficult for members to attend meetings.

3. To conduct an analysis in order to identify all employment barriers that adversely affect people from the designated group and remove them.

Policies, procedures and the work environment were audited by task teams established from the membership of EECAC. Barriers identified in the recruitment and selection process, interviewing panels, interviewing instruments/tools, induction process, promotions , transfers and job assignments were identified and removed in consultation with members of a particular task team.. The analysis was also used to determine the extent of under-representation and under-utilization of people from the designated groups in all Occupational Categories and Levels within the workforce. On a more positive side, practices and policies that promoted equity and diversity within the workplace were encouraged. Commitment from members to meet on a regular basis to finalise the audit proved difficult as in many instances this process was marginalised as it was not part of the line function. However, this was overcome by enlightening the members on the importance of the exercise to drive or pave the way for the process of transformation. A further problem is the fact that the auditing process seems to be focussed on activities in the National Office only. It is therefore envisaged that this process be practised not just on a one off basis but that it be seen as an ongoing and an integral part of the day to day functioning of the relevant Directorate and ultimately the Department as a whole.

3. To conduct an analysis of the workforce profile in order to establish which employees are members of designated groups.

The analysis provided a comparison of designated groups by occupational catergories and levels to relevant demographic data. This comparison assisted in establishing targets or gaps that existed in terms of the baseline target requirements as alluded to in the White Paper on Affirmative Action. The challenge is now to update the data in terms of race, gender and disability on the PERSAL system in order to obtain a reliable and an accurate workforce profile. Obtaining information regarding the disability status of people is particularly difficult due to the Constitutional Right to privacy .

3. To develop an Employment Equity Plan for the entire Department.

A consolidated plan that incorporates all the plans from the various Directorate’s and the different Regions was developed. The challenge is now to lend support to all 9 regions and every Directorate within Head Office and to ensure that the format of the plan is adhered to as this provides a guideline on the pertinent issues that should be covered and ensures that the EE plans are adhered to and implemented. The final challenge in this respect is to ensure that Directorates and Regions are able to develop EE Plans within time frames and on their own. This process is to be initiated as early as possible in the next term in order to ensure continuity.

3. To put into place an effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation system.

A system of evaluating the plan at regular intervals was implemented. A system of random visits to different offices to establish whether the plans and progress thereof were reported in consultation with staff is underway. It remains a challenge to get offices to inculcate the concept of Employment Equity as part of their line function since EE should not be thought of as a burden to be remembered only when a progress report is due. A very fundamental challenge that we face is to inculcate a culture of organizational vigilance amongst employees that will ensure that they become the custodians of the EE Plans.

3. To draft an EE policy.
4. To draft a Dispute Resolution Procedure for the EE Act

Both these documents were successfully drafted and are currently in the process of being finalised.

3. To submit the first EE report to the Department of Labour.

The completed report has been handed over to the Department of Labour. The challenge remains

to collate the statistics according to the prescribed format and explain to the various offices how to balance the figures within the required timeframes.

Research was done on several other Government Department’’s EAP policies as well as private institutions. The Employee Assistance Programme Organization of South Africa’s standards was also researched. A first draft was develop and has been referred for comment. It should be noted that this is a new division in the Department with the result in a lack of experience in this field by the officials dealing with this matter. Within the restructuring process in the Department presently, a fully established EAP as envisaged has been put on hold, resulting in a lack of human resources.

The EAP was given a budget of R 776 000-00 to effect service delivery in this field in the Department. A budget as well as a budget plan was drawn up and presented to the Branch accountant. The challenge is to spend the allocated amount effectively to improve the wellness of all Justice officials who are in need of this service.

Several meetings was held with external service providers that could form part of a national data base to ensure that assistance are readily available where ever needed. The EAP is a newly established unit in the Department and a lot of networking with other Government Departments as well as external stakeholders still needs to be done. This will ensure that a representative database of service providers will be available to everybody servicing them in their preferred language.

The EAP is functioning currently with a lack of human resources. However it is rendering services when a case is reported. A filing system was registered with the National archives of South Africa and a system range was allocated to the EAP. With lack of human resources it is difficult to achieve the set goals and can result in the EAP not functioning according to the standards of EAP Association of South Africa..Commitment from top management is therefore needed and it is suggested that a champion be identified for this purposes.

A needs assessment questionnaire was send to all Regional - and Sub-Offices’ Heads as well as to all managers in National Office. The questionnaires were processed and consultations with a selection of managers took place. High risk target groups will be identified from the needs assessment for the purposes of piloting specialised services for these groups.

OBJECTIVE 6: Effective case management of officials reporting with a problem

The following cases were dealt with successfully:

1. Alcohol related problems: 3

1. Depression: 3

1. Work related problems: 1

1. Trauma debriefing: 2

1. Suicide: 1

1. Family related problems: 1

To create awareness of the services and to render such to officials as speedily as possible to ensure maximum impact. All managers will be briefed on the EAP and it’s services to ensure that they refer troubled employees as soon as a problem in presented.

In brief the transformation of the office of the CFO is carried out according to two macro methodology guidelines. The first or overarching process is the Solution Engineering Methodology that has four phases, which are; building buy-in, concept formulation, project definition and project implementation.

The capacity building sub-process is a substantial subset of the PEP Phases. This project is an Enterprise Transformation Methodology consisting of five phases and six work streams. The phases guide the effort by firstly establishing a change imperative through the conducting of an as-is process identification and assessment. This assessment forms the basis for the definition of process visions & targets and the development of a new service structure and process design. The new structures and processes, together with the supporting technology infrastructure, will be implemented during the Build and Deliver phases. The six work streams each forms a sub-project addressing a specific transformation theme.

At the time of writing the Establish Imperative phase has been completed, and the Vision and Target phase is roughly at the halfway mark. In summary the macro plan is to reengineer the structure, culture and systems/processes of the Office of the CFO. Viewed from a higher level we established the post structure and post vacancies within the Office of the CFO, we determined the tasks performed by each individual at Head Office, Regional Office, and Representative Sub-Office levels and mapped these on process flow charts. We have begun the redesign phase and will then determine the new task lists or duty sheets for each individual in the new system together with an analysis of the requisite post structure. Once this is done the skills requirements of each post within the new system will be determinable and the skills gaps will be bridged by the capacity building project.

The following processes have been identified for assessment:

§ Performance Management Processes and Practices

§ Finance related processes

In addition to the building projects that have been completed, a number of projects are in progress. These are as follows:

Khutsong: Community Safety Centre

Kroonstad: additional accommodation at the magistrate’s office

Khayelitsha: new magistrate’s office building

Nsimbini: Community Safety Centre

Tshidilamolomo: Community Safety Centre

Blue Downs: new magistrate’s office building

Upington: new magistrate’s office building

Bothsabelo: new magistrate’s office building

Sasolburg: additional accommodation

De Aar: additional accommodation

Leboeing: new magistrate’s office building

Centani: new magistrate’s office building

Atteridgeville: new magistrate’s office building

The following building projects are in the planning stage:

Peddie, Middeldrift, Bothitong, Atamelang, Thabong (Welkom), Port Elizabeth, Benoni, Tembisa, Randburg, Scottburgh, Malmesbury, Citrusdal, Stanger, and the New Constitutional Court (Braamfontein).

A. BUILDING PROJECTS COMPLETED SINCE 1996

1. Khutsong - Community Safety Centre (District Oberholzer)

2. Kroonstad Magistrate's office: Additional Accommodation

3. Khayelitsha: New Magistrate's office building. District Mitchell's Plain.

4. Nsimbini - community Safety Centre (District Umbumbulu KZN)

5. Tshidilamolomo - Community Safety Centre - North West Province

6. Blue Downs: New Magistrate's office Building (District Kuils Rivier)

7. Sasolburg: Additional accommodation - 2 court rooms, offices and cells

8. De Aar: Additional Accommodation - 2 court rooms, offices and cells

9. Leboeng (District Praktiseer) New building - Community Safety Centre.

10. Centani (Eastern Cape) New building - Community Safety Centre.

11. Atteridgeville (District Pretoria) New Building

12. Bloemfontein magistrate's office - additional accommodation.

13. Melmoth magistrate's office - additional accommodation.

14. Pretoria Palace of Justice - refurbishment and renovation for High Court and Family Advocates.

The National Community Safety Centre Programme involves the four core departments within the criminal justice system, viz. South Africa Police Services, Department of Justice, Department of Correctional Services and the Department of Welfare, as well as the Department of Health. It aims to bring services rendered by these departments to communities where these services either do not exist, or do exist but are not easily accessible, especially in rural areas, in an integrated way.

1. Peddie

2. Middeldrift

3. Bothitong

4. Atamelang

5. Thabong (Welkom)

6. Port Elizabeth

7. Benoni

8. Tembisa

9. Randburg

10. Scottburgh

11. Malmesbury (Additional Accommodation)

12. Citrusdal (New periodical court)

13. Stanger (Additional Accommodation)

14. New Constitutional Court, Braamfontein

15. Zonkezizwe (New building in district of Heidelberg, Gauteng)

16. Madadeni (New building in district of New Castle)

5. BUILDINGS ON MAJOR REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME (RAMP-projects)

1. Durban High Court building.

2. Klerksdorp Magistrate's Office building.

3. Potchefstroom Magistrate's Office building.

4. Ongoye Magistrate's Office building.

5. Mahlabatini Magistrate's Office building.

6. Pretoria Justice College Building.

7. Msinga Magistrate's Office building.

8. Daveyton Magistrate's Office building. (District Benoni)

9. Mamelodi Magistrate's Office building. (District Pretoria North)

10. Orlando Magistrate's Office building. (District Johannesburg).

11. Butterworth Magistrate's Office building.

12. Ezibeleni Magistrate's Office building.

13. Fort Beaufort Magistrate's Office building.

14. Idutywa Magistrate's Office building.

15. Whittlesea Magistrate's Office building.

16. Lehurutse Magistrate's Office building.

17. Thabamoopoo Magistrate's Office building.

18. Tsineng Magistrate's Office building.

19. Ditsobotla Magistrate's Office building.

20. Mothibistadt Magistrate's Office building.

F. JOHANNESBURG: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT: NEW BUILDING: DELIVERY THROUGH PARTNERSHIP

The concerns of all the partners are to ensure a coordinated precinct development that will maximise on the court as an anchor tenant, but will make a significant impact in terms of economic development on the area. To this end, the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), which is a company jointly set up by the Gauteng Provincial Government and the City of Johannesburg, will manage the development of the entire precinct.

The JDA will therefore be responsible for:

- Project co-ordination

- Project management

- Management of the completed precinct.

The frequency of theft, robberies, vandalism and destruction of government assets has resulted in the Department initiating an extensive campaign to provide and install effective safety and security devices in an attempt to counter these negative acts. Examples in this regard, include:

A Departmental Security Policy and Prescripts in that regard have been issued and implemented. A Security Awareness Program is receiving attention.

Hundred and three (103) offices are being guarded by security personnel. Twenty-four hour (24hrs) guarding services is provided in 25 sub-offices and 78 offices during office hours.

(N.B. All courts in the former Kwandebele area in Mpumalanga are being guarded by security officers from the provincial Safety and Security personnel, but negotiations are taking place to transfer them to the Department.)

An additional ± 4000 Security Officer posts are required, but these could not be created due to the non-availability of funds and the right sizing of the Public Service.

The Provincial Administration, Free State has indicated that 55 Security Officers posts, together with the budget for these posts, might be transferred to this Department. This matter is being investigated.

During the year under review the following incidents occurred at various offices:

The amount of R14 Million was made available for the outsourcing of the above-mentioned services country-wide. Tenders were invited for the Guarding- and Cash In Transit services for the various offices country wide. A total of 85 tenders were received and dealt with. Continuous monitoring of Alarm System services were also kept intact with the help of the Regional Offices. The amounts allocated were distributed as follows.

Guarding Services R7 239 208.00

The offices at which the above-mentioned services will be provided are as follows:

Transit of State money 29 offices

Guarding Services 8 offices (full-time)

5 offices (part-time

Alarm Systems 19 offices

Transit of state money 27 offices

Guarding services 7 office (full-time)

5 offices (part-time)

Alarm Systems 15 offices

Transit of State money 29 offices

Guarding Services 6 offices (full-time)

11 offices (part-time)

Alarm Systems 3 offices

Transit of State money 16 offices

Guarding services 4 offices (full-time)

5 offices (part-time)

Alarm Systems 16 offices

Transit of State money 17 offices

Guarding services 5 offices (full-time)

2 offices (part-time)

Alarm Systems 11 offices

Transit of State money 10 offices

Guarding service 2 offices (full-time)

Transit of State money 11 offices

Guarding services 1 office (full time) 2 (part time)

Alarm Systems 3 offices

Transit of State money 17 offices

Guarding services 5 offices (full time) 2 (part time)

Alarm Systems 11 offices

Transit of State money 16 offices

Guarding services 4 office (part-time)

Alarm Systems 16 offices

During the past year, various training programmes were provided to security officers regarding discipline, policy with regard to access control, firearm training, etc.

The planning of physical security at various offices (buildings) which are to be equipped with security measures has reached an advanced stage. Offices where security problems have been identified/detected will be provided with the following security measures:

Physical security measures have been addressed at the following offices during the year under review:

Magistrate Offices: Heilbron, Roodepoort (repairing of x-ray machine), Witbank, Mankwe, Pretoria (securing of the cash hall), Hartwater, Brandfort, Ermelo, Ficksburg, Harrismith, Moutse, Seshego, Vrede, Wesselsbron, Randburg, Branch Court, Wynberg (VODACOM Project), Ndwedwe, Bolobedu, Sekhukhune, Amersfoort, Meyerton: Branch Court, Kliprivier, Namakgale, Kriel, Potgietersrus, Vryhei Bethulie, Upington (Additional requirements: provisioning of x-ray machine and walkthrough metal detector), Khayelitsha (additional requirements: provisioning of x-ray machine and walkthrough metal detector), Pretoria (provisioning of walk-through metal detectors) Ndwedwe and National Office, Pretoria (provisioning of an x-ray machine).

3. The modernising of all systems in the justice network, including financial, administrative and management systems.
4. The strategic integration of the Constitutional Development portfolio into Ministerial and Departmental structures.

3. Utilising budget reform as an instrument of improved planning, bench marking and performance assessment and to fully implement the undertaking to redirect spending away from administrative structures to service and operational points. ( See the section on the CFO and financial resources hereunder)

1. Finding the most cost-effective way of implementing key new legislative frameworks and the development of a strategic approach to costing legislation.
2. Complying with increased constitutional, legal and international obligations in the face of serious budgetary constraints.
3. The acceleration of the implementation of legislation. Oversee the implementation of complex key transformation statutes, such as the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act; The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act; and the Implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

(See the legislation briefing)

1. Assist the effective and complete transformation of the Legal Aid Board and the incremental introduction of justice centres to replace the judicare system. (The legal aid board will be giving a separate detailed presentation to the Portfolio Committee).

It should be noted that pursuant to inter-action with business leaders during 2000, and a strategic session of senior management of the Department in December 2000, a new management structure for and restructuring of the Department, aligned to sound business practices came into being. This heralded the second major milestone in the history of the Department since April 1994. The first being the amalgamation of the Department into one structure from eleven disparate departments. The new approach of the Department is marked by the establishment of self-contained business units to address the business of the Department.

The Mission Statement captures the ethos of the new Department -

At the apex of the new management structure, a Board of Directors, chaired by the Minister (with the Deputy Minister as deputy chair) was established. Members include the managing directors of new business units - taking the place of the old Branch structures - as well as members of the judiciary, the NDPP, business leaders and representatives from the Legal Aid Board. The key role and functions of the Board are to:

1. Guide the Department in respect of strategy and structure;
2. establish a strategy for the Department from time to time including a determination of the business/service that the Department should be involved in providing and those that it should not be involved in/providing;
3. ensure that the executive management implements the Department’s strategy as determined from time to time;
4. ensure that the Department operates in accordance with prevailing ethics and norms
5. ensure the department prepares annual budgets against which its performance can be monitored and measured;
6. monitor the activities and performance of the executive management committee (Exco) against budgets, business plans, Government norms and previous performance;
7. advise the Minister on the selection and appointment of the chief executive officer and other senior executives;
8. provide information on the activities of the Department to those entitled to it;
9. oversee the selection and appointment of senior management;
10. address the adequacy of retirement and health care benefits, salaries generally and funding for the Department;
11. ensure that the Department has an affirmative action plan in place to advance members of disadvantaged communities in the business of the Department. Ensure that the department creates proper mentoring mechanisms and training programmes to achieve this object and to make the Department more effective and efficient in respect of its service delivery and its role in transforming South African society and redressing the past imbalances;
12. provide advice to the Minister and the Deputy Minister on any matters referred to it by them, and
13. assist with the formulation of policies, in accordance with decisions taken by the Cabinet and resolutions of the ruling party, for consideration by the Minister, Cabinet and the ruling party.

The Board must meet at least quarterly for purposes of carrying out its role and functions, but at present meets monthly.

Below the Board, an Executive Management Committee (Exco), under the chairmanship of the Director-General of Justice and Constitutional Development was established.

The Unit will focus in its presentation on further aspects relating to this and other aspects, including feedback on aspects relevant to its mandate on issues raised at last year’s briefing session.

1. Legislative and Constitutional Development

Since the advent of constitutional democracy, which has been accompanied by a major shift in policy from the past, together with concomitant demands on the legal system serving the South African community, this component has been faced with a challenging and daunting task. Although there have been major achievements in this area, a number of critical issues have been identified which still need urgent attention in order to comply with constitutional imperatives and Government initiatives and to meet the expectations of the community. To overcome this the new unit has identified a number of strategic goals on the basis of which they have prepared a business plan. They have designed an appropriate organisational structure which will enable us to function more efficiently and effectively. In addition to this and in compliance with the specific requirements of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999, comprehensive and detailed operational plans, containing prioritised activities and time-frames which have been determined in consultation with the designated functionaries, were developed. As a result the unit will be in a better position to deal with its core functions relating to the following broad strategic goals:

1. Promote, maintain and develop the Constitution and its values.
2. Transform and maintain the legal system.
3. Transform and improve the criminal justice system.
4. Promote access to justice.
5. Promote and maintain the independence and effectiveness of State institutions supporting constitutional democracy.
6. Accelerate the development of rules for courts of law.

The Unit will focus in its presentation on further aspects relating to this and other legislative aspects, including feedback on aspects raised at last year’s briefing session.

1. Legal Advisory Services

This unit is being restructured to be able to focus on its core functions as a self-contained unit. Eventually each office will consist of the state law advisers, state attorneys, family advocates, legal process and legal liability. All lawyers who have not already done so, will have to apply for certificates which will enable them to appear in the High Court. All lawyers will have to attend to litigation matters and will only brief outside counsel where necessary. The state attorneys will in future brief the state law advisers to furnish opinions and will only refer matters to the private sector where necessary. The establishment of a Constitutional Litigation Unit is envisaged to argue constitutional matters on behalf of the State, advise on constitutional matters generally and also help to verify the constitutional of legislation. The establishment of a dedicated legislative drafting unit which will not use session officials at all. This will result in a huge improvement in the quality of legislation.

The Unit will focus in its presentation on further aspects relating to this and other aspects, including feedback on aspects relevant to its mandate on issues raised at last year’s briefing session.

1. Master’s Office

The aim of this business unit is to transform the masters division from a static cost inefficient, expense driven entity into a dynamic commercially viable enterprise dedicated to the pursuit of service excellence. To deal with this the business plan deals with:

1. Organisational structure;
2. Factors which impede service delivery;
3. Business solution to improve service delivery;
4. Method of funding improved service delivery; and
5. Costing of the division

Part and parcel of the plans is a drive to stamp out corruption, rationalise and update legislation pertaining to estates and the Master’s Office.

The Unit will focus in its presentation on further aspects relating to this and other aspects, including feedback on aspects relevant to its mandate on issues raised at last year’s briefing session.

1. National Prosecution Authority (NPA)

The NPA will be giving a separate briefing to the Portfolio Committee and as such will not be dealt with here.

The current Directorate: Information Technology is not able to adequately address the information and systems development needs of the Department. Information technology has in the past also not been recognised as a strategic enabler. Furthermore, the Department does not have a Master System Plan or integrated system.

The business pressures on the Department require that its systems be re-engineered, integrated, and supported with appropriate information technology.

The Department does not currently have a structure that assumes responsibility for oversight and monitoring of the implementation of its information technology projects.

The e-Justice Programme is defined as that cluster pf projects that are intended to realise the Department’s vision for the utilisation of information technology.Programme Objectives

The project in this programme are designed to support the following departmental objectives-

1. To improve productivity by reducing case cycle times and increase throughput of cases in court.
2. To provide for case management, document and content management and resource scheduling.
3. To provide the necessary electronic infrastructure and connectivity to all justice officials.
4. To promote and implement an integrated justice system.
5. To develop and maintain a knowledge management system with the required workflow capabilities.
6. To integrate and continuously innovate our management system and provide management and officials with the necessary enabling tools to perform their functions.
7. To develop and maintain the required financial administration system with e-commerce capacity.
8. To develop and maintain a human resource management system.
9. To develop and maintain a management information system.
10. To recognise the value of information as an asset and develop creative means for revenue generation.

The organisation of the programme is intended to plot a road map leading from the current state of low technology utilisation to one that effective recognises information technology as a strategic enabler.

The key results area are as follows: -

The establishment of this structure would coincide with the abolishment of the current IT directorate and the successful negotiation of a service level agreement with SITA

The MSP is currently being finalised by SITA. The purpose of the MSP is to define what systems are to be developed, provide a framework for its development, and record a plan to implement this. The objective is to develop a master plan that would define the systems requirements and give effect to our strategy.

The MSP would provide the basis for which the architecture of the Department’s systems would be developed.