SOUTH AFRICAN BOARD FOR SHERIFFS

PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DE.VELOPMENT

13 APRII.2005


1. MILESTONES COVERED / SUCCESSES

The SA Board for Sheriffs has made significant inroads in transforming the sheriffs' profession since the inception and implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) over the past three years.


In line with the initial audit of the profession and the consequent articulation of key result areas, the Board is in a position to unveil the following strategic successes with confidence.


The above-mentioned interventions are strategic building blocks in promoting transformation of the profession, however, it is recognised that such interventions are not robust enough to sustain this process. The transformation process over the past three years has uncovered new layers of interventions that are needed to advance this project. Active participation by the Board has deepened its understanding of the process - exposing new opportunities and challenges. It is for this very reason that the Board developed a strategic plan aimed at the advancement of projects that were successfully completed.


The Board realises that the transformation process will only be at a matured phase over the next three to five years. Cognizance needs to be taken that the transformation of the profession is part and parcel of the national democratic agenda of South Africa. The national democratic project with all its challenges has been in operation for the past ten years, whilst the democratisation of the sheriffs' profession is only celebrating its third year of implementation.


1.1 SHERIFFS
TRAINING

Although the training of sheriffs has always been one of the principal objectives of the Board, the implementation of this mandate took a turn with the introduction of the National Action Plan project to transform the sheriffs' profession. The implementation of the NAP process led to a turnaround strategy in the training of sheriffs, where the following transpired:


Through the Board's training programmes which took the form of Provincial Training Workshops and a Sheriffs Introductory Course conducted in collaboration with UNISA (Technikon SA), more than eight hundred learners were capacitated. Although it could be argued that as evidenced from this figure, a sizeable amount of learners have been capacitated through the Board's training programmes, the Board is still inundated with training requests from sheriffs and sheriffs' office staff members who could not participate in the process due to limited funding.


It is the Board's contention that to advance transformation in the sheriffs' profession, a continued training programme for sheriffs and their respective staff is essential. Through the training process, transformation in terms of improved, accountable and credible service delivery could be realised.


To consolidate the training mandate even further, the Board has applied for a sheriffs' learnership programme through the POSLEC Sector Education and Training Authority. It is envisaged that the learnership programme will be rolled out before the end of 2005 and that of the 100 learners earmarked to participate in the learnership, 25 will be recruited from outside the profession, specifically those from the previously disadvantaged background. Among others, the outcomes of the sheriffs' learnership programme will be an increased pool of prospective candidates (PDIs) for appointment in sheriffs' positions.


1.2
DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY AND INSPECTORS

One of the key objectives of the Board is the execution of disciplinary procedures against errant sheriffs as provided in Chapter IV of the Sheriffs Act. Towards ensuring effectiveness in its execution of this mandate, the Board has invoked the provisions of sections 18(1)(a) and 56(1)(b)

where the following has been undertaken respectively, namely:


A disciplinary procedure and guidelines' manual has been developed to inform the disciplinary processes engaged by the Board in disposing its disciplinary mandate.


The imminent change of Board membership translates to a need to capacitate new members on the developed disciplinary processes, systems and procedures to ensure their informed participation in the established disciplinary committees.


While the appointed inspectors have undergone training on their roles and responsibilities as derived from the Board's defined expectations, it is essential that these inspectors be periodically up skilled to keep abreast of policy developments within the Board as well as reflect on and share their experiences. Also, the pool of inspectors needs to be increased by capacitating more candidate inspectors on the role and responsibilities of inspectors as defined by the Board.


1.3
COMMUNICATION

With the view to inform the public and all stakeholders of the sheriffs' profession about the transformation process, the Board through the NAP process launched an aggressive communication campaign. Engaging a range of media instruments such as print media, electronic media, gazebo promotions and imbizos to drive the campaign, it is estimated that approximately 10 million people were reached. The campaign has ensured that the public at large has a greater understanding of their rights and responsibilities as well as the role and functions of the sheriffs in the execution of civil law. Further, the campaign focused ate hanging t he public's mindset about the profession and at selling a positive new image of the profession.


Strategic relationships were built and strong ties forged with the key stakeholders of the profession such as the South African National Civics Organisation(SANCO), the South African Local Government Association(SALGA), the Law Society, Micro-Finance Regulatory Council - to mention but a few - as the communication campaigned unfolded.


The Board acknowledges that the move of the sheriffs' profession to a modern, transparent ethos in line with South Africa's new constitutional imperatives cannot be undertaken overnight; however a huge start has been made. It is critical therefore that the momentum gained and inroads made through the campaign do not fall by the wayside nor should they be lost.


It is the Board's objective to ensure that the well received imbizo held with stakeholders in the Eastern Cape Province is rolled out to other provinces as well.

While transformation of the sheriffs' profession will remain the focal point in the envisaged continuation of the communication campaign, it is intended that through the campaign, the sheriffs’ profession will be promoted as a career option, targeting women and black candidates.


2. THE KEY CHALLENGES FACING THE BOARD

The dominant culture of inequality still prevails in the profession. Affirmative action appointments, amongst other things, could best be implemented once a core group of previously disadvantaged prospective sheriffs are capacitated and trained. Through the Board's vigorous training programmes, a foundation for such appointments has now been laid, which will impact on the practice of inequality in the profession.


The sheriffs have been sensitised about the South African changing environment, however, there is still considerable work required to integrate all sheriffs into the transformation process allowing them to take ownership thereof.


The lack of adequate financial resources to ensure that the initiated transformation process is sustained poses a major threat to the milestones that have been achieved and the groundwork that has been covered in transforming the sheriffs' profession.


2.1 SHERIFF APPOINTMENTS

The appointment of sheriffs is one of the key vehicles through which the Board can be able to ensure the transformation of the sheriffs' profession. However, the Board's role in transforming the profession is severely restrained b y its limited involvement in the appointment process as stipulated in regulation 9 of the Regulations relating to the Sheriffs Act which provides that the Board should merely indicate the applicants to whom it [the Board] is prepared to grant fidelity fund certificates to.


The challenge facing the Board on this front is the apparent lack of buy-in on the sheriffs' transformation process by some Advisory Committees that conduct interviews as evidenced in their interview reports. In these interviews, too much emphasis is placed upon factors such as:


Competencies in respect of business and administrative acumen, potential to acquire the necessary skills as well as communication skills are sometimes neglected in the interview process.


Consequently, the Board argues that the interview process should not be left to the sole discretion of Advisory Committees at local level, which more often than not are constituted by people from the local community sharing similar opinions and/or agendas.


Towards addressing the concerns alluded to and in an endeavour to accelerate the transformation process within the sheriffs' profession, it is the Board's submission that the appointment of sheriffs in vacant offices be structured as follows:


Through the vigorous national t raining programme that the Board has embarked upon, a core pool of prospective sheriffs from both within and outside of the profession who are ready to take up affirmative action appointments has been trained in the basics of running a sheriffs office.


2.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTION 3(2)(B)

Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development appointed a Task Team in May 2002 to conduct an investigation and develop a report on the implementation of Section 3(2)(b) in vacant areas, that is, in areas where there were retired sheriffs who were acting in the respective sheriffs' offices. These were:


The Task Team reported to the Minister in August 2002 recommending that, based on the outcomes of the investigation, Section 3(2)(b) be implemented in the following areas:


Advertisements to take up Section 3(2)(b) vacancies in the above areas were placed in National Newspapers in March 2003.


Interviews structured in line with the existing governing legislation and regulations have been conducted in the respective Magistrates' Offices. Although the outcomes of the interview processes of two of these vacancies have been forwarded to the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development through the Department, to date no appointments have been effected in these areas.


The implementation of section 3(2)(b) of the Sheriffs Act 90 of 1986 is viewed by the Board as another vehicle through which the sheriffs' profession could be rendered more representative of the race and gender composition of the country.


Mindful of the fact that six areas have been gazetted for the implementation of section 3(2)(b) and the outstanding legislative amendments necessary to ensure a successful roll-out of this process, the Board is of the view that section 3(2)(b) should be implemented across the board in all the identified qualifying sheriffs' offices.


The following is a statistical breakdown of sheriffs' positions that will be available throughout the country from the latter part of 2005 to 2007:

Year

No of Offices to be Vacant without the implementation of section 3(2)(b)

No of offices to be Vacant including the immediate implementation of section 3(2)(b)

2005

9

40

2006

11

 

2007

12

 


2.3 LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS

Various legislative amendments have been drafted and proposed to the Department to address the shortcomings identified within existing legislation. Once these amendments have been legislated, it is envisaged that the efficiency of the Board's procedure will be enhanced.


2.4 FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS

The Board's income base is informed by the provisions of section 19(1) of the Sheriffs Act read with regulation 6, where sheriffs are mandated to pay over to the Board a 0.6% levy on their net annual income.


Further, section 27(e) makes provision for the Board to utilize monies in the Fidelity Fund for 'expenses involved in the control and management of the Fund'. Based on a study conducted where a comparative analysis of what fund managers would charge to administer the Fund, the Board levies a 4% administration fee to the Fidelity Fund's investment portfolio.


For the past three years, the increase of the Board's income generated from these funds has been minimal, averaging a mere 6%.


It is evident therefore that for the Board to effectively discharge its objectives as articulated in section 8 of the Sheriffs Act, and sustain the transformation process that has been initiated through donor funding, the status of its revenue generating capacity needs to be addressed.


Sadly, financial realities indicate that the Board would not be able to sustain the post NAP roll- out programme effectively within the existing income base and will therefore have to devise new strategies to source the necessary funding.


3.
WORKSHOP WITH THE DEPUTY MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

A workshop was held with the Deputy Minister where submissions on the following aspects were made:


At the workshop, the Board was mandated to submit further details on the submissions and to present a business plan encapsulating the proposals.