BRIEFING BY MS BRIGITTE MABANDLA, MP, MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, TO THE PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, ON TUESDAY, 31 JANUARY 2006

Chairperson

Honourable Members

 

Thank you for extending an invitation to us to brief the members of this Committee on Departmental priorities and the restructuring of the Department. We have had excellent interaction with your Committee in the past year and I trust that we will continue to work closely together during this our Third Session of our Third Democratic Parliament. As always the Department will render whatever assistance is required to the Committee.

This year as we celebrate a decade of the adoption of our Constitution, our challenge is to continue to ensure that the values of our Constitution are fully realized by continuing to improve the quality of life of all our people, especially the vulnerable.

In the next three years we will intensify our efforts in improving access to justice for all through:

In line with our Constitutional objectives and the values underpinning the Constitution, since taking office in April 2004, my challenge has been to lead the Department towards our goal of delivering accessible, speedy and cost effective quality justice services to our people. We have continued in the past year to deal with this matter. I will share with you during my briefing some of our main challenges and achievements in this regard as well as the transformation of our institutions and systems.

The Director-General and the Chief Operating Officer have been at the heart of our efforts in developing our new Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) for the financial years 2005/06 – 2008/09. The MTSF outlines how the Department will enhance its organizational efficiency to deliver on the goals I mentioned earlier.

Allow me to mention a few highlights relating to the promotion and implementation of legislation. This we shall do briefly because we realise that this Committee has dealt with some of the issues in question.

It is with a sense of satisfaction and relief that we can remind ourselves of the repeal of the infamous Black Administration Act of 1927. Although I expressed my gratitude to this Committee and the Select Committee when the Bill was being considered by Parliament I would again like to congratulate the two Committees for their constructive role in that process. There is, however, still substitute legislation that needs to be put in place by various role-players at the national and provincial levels of Government before 31July 2006. This will facilitate the eventual repeal of this Act. I trust that these role-players are doing all in their power to ensure that this happens.

Another achievement I would like to highlight is the implementation of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act which, with the exception of a few provisions, came into operation on 30 September 2005. This milestone needs special mention since there were numerous challenges that had to be addressed in order to put the legislation into operation, requiring an enormous amount of consultation. This Act, while protecting the rights of law-abiding individuals, will go a long way in fighting serious organized crime and its commencement is welcomed.

Looking to the year ahead, we would like to table my list as far as draft legislation is concerned. The Department has a Legislative Programme with which it tries to adhere. Because there is only a limited amount of time available each year for Parliament to consider legislation, I would like to place on record what I hope to see enacted or reach an advanced stage in the parliamentary process, or at least reach Parliament for consideration when circumstances permit.

Of the Bills which are at different stages of preparation in the Department and which I envisage being ready for introduction in the near future are the following three, which I regard as being urgent to warrant Parliament's approval as soon as circumstances permit:

* Traditional Courts Interim Bill:

This Bill is intended to be an interim measure, pending the enactment of permanent legislation dealing with the judicial functions of traditional leaders and traditional courts. The Bill is urgent as it needs to be implemented before 31 July 2006 - the date contained in the sunset clause which will see the demise of sections 12 and 20 of the Black Administration Act, 1927, which currently regulate the judicial functions of traditional leaders.

* Customary Law of Succession Amendment Bill:

Although the Constitutional Court has already "laid down the law" as far as this area is concerned, bringing it into line with the Constitution, I am anxious to confirm this by way of appropriate legislation. I hope to see this Bill before Parliament before the second half of the year commences.

* Magistrates Courts Amendment Bill:

This relate to the disposal of immovable property of poor people whose houses are sold well below their market value in execution in respect of insignificant debts.

* Judicial Service Amendment Bill, Magistrates Amendment Bill and the Judicial Conduct Tribunal Bill:

The Bills have been finalized and are currently being discussed with the judiciary before their submission to Parliament. These will be submitted to Parliament during the second quarter of the year to expedite the process of putting in place a complaint handling mechanism for judicial officers.

We realize that Parliament will be hard-pressed to finalise all these Bills, most of which are comprehensive and difficult in nature, but I do appeal to all involved in this Committee as well as to the officials in the Department to pull out all the stops.

The Bills I have referred to are those that I think deserve special mention, but there are substantial more than I have mentioned. Regarding issues pertaining to Constitutional Development, we are awaiting the outcome of the review of the Chapter 9 Institutions.

Strategic goals

We have consequently revisited our strategic framework to ensure we remain a needs-focused department and that access to justice for all remains one of our main goals.

The following three strategic goals will underpin all our activities and budget expenditure for the next three years:

1. Access to Justice for All, especially the poor and the vulnerable in townships and in rural areas.

2. Enhancing Organisational Efficiency and integration of quality services to make them simpler, faster and cost-effective.

3. Transforming Justice, State and Society in line with the democratic values of the Constitution.

Access to justice for all

In the past few years we have done much in this regard, but in the next three years we will intensify and synergize our efforts to ensure that we address our stated objectives. In this regard we will continue to prioritise deliverables relating to access to justice for vulnerable groups, children, the disabled and the elderly. I want to stress that these are crucial deliverables in my view and they will receive specific focused attention. Some of the aspects relevant in this regard are that we will ensure –

The development and implementation of the Service Charter for Victims of Crime, will continue with an increased focus on creating awareness and educating victims about their rights and the services they can expect at courts. The continued improvement of the maintenance system will continue to be our area of focus. Through our dedicated programme called "Operation Isondlo" we are already seeing results in this regard. For example two weeks ago my Department paid arrear maintenance to a claimant in the amount of R10 000. There are 700 claimants that we have identified and which we will be calling to visit us to receive the unclaimed maintenance.

In addition to various new courts being built, we will ensure that in the next three years all dilapidated facilities are renovated, refurbished and extended through the Repair and Maintenance Programme (RAMP). Access to justice is however much more than just improving infrastructure and consequently we have also embarked on initiatives to inform the public of their rights and the services available to them. Community outreach activities will be conducted on a continuous basis, especially in previously disadvantaged areas. The Department will deal with this in more detail when it deals with Public Education and Communication.

Office of the Master

The core function of the Master is to protect the interests of the vulnerable in our society in the areas of Deceased Estates, Curatorships and Liquidations. This role of care and compassion is primarily done through the administration of the Guardians Fund which persistently grew at a rate of more than 25% per annum in the last few years. In this fund, estate and pension moneys are administered and maintenance paid in the interest of vulnerable minors. Currently more than R3 Billion are held in the Guardians Fund. Regular payments from the Guardians Fund have almost doubled in the last financial year and a total of more than 592 000 beneficiaries (who are mainly children) are affected by the payments. The role the Masters play in support of child headed house holds is to ensure that reliable care givers are determined and paid on a regular basis.

The Department is in discussion with Department of Trade and Industry to strike a balance between the need to rescue business and liquidation of companies to minimise any negative impact on the economy. This process has also been approved by Cabinet.

 

 

Enhancing Organisational Efficiency

The review of the criminal justice review is a JCPS cluster initiative and the Department got a go ahead to begin with the review process this year. We will be reporting to the Cabinet Lekgotla in July this year on the progress made in this regard. As part of the review process we seek to improve the pilot project on the postponement of cases via the video arraignment to eliminate risk associated with prison escapes. We are considering mechanisms to make the library available on line to make it more accessible to the justice officials and the judiciary.

The COO will deal with this in more detail when he makes his presentation on the Corporate Services Branch.

I just want to touch on two aspects relating to Corporate Services:

Resource allocation to the Department.

We have managed our budget satisfactorily and it is notable that for the second year in a row my Department has attained an unqualified audit report on the Vote Account. This we are particularly proud of as it attests to the diligent and coordinated work by all in the Department. It is also indicative of our future approach to financial matters.

The Department obtained National Treasury approval to write-off irrecoverable debts in relation to agency services provided to the former TBVC States and Self-governing Territories.  These "Agency Services" relate to services rendered by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on behalf of other departments in those former Homelands.  R101 million was written off during the 2003/04 financial year and R 89 million in the 2004/05 financial year.

The Department received additional allocations of R500 million and R1 300 million over the new MTEF period for improving access to justice services and to increase capacity. This include allocations for the review of the criminal justice system, improving access to the Guardian’s Fund, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, facilities management, legal representation for children, increasing prosecutorial capacity, building management capacity, integrated case flow management, witness protection and asset forfeiture.

These additional funds represent a significant contribution to the achievement of the department’s strategic priorities, as defined by the measurable objectives for each of the spending programmes. We have also received additional allocation to address the salaries and car allowances of magistrates.

Monies held in Trust

The Department has made progress on the project relating to the improvement of the management of monies held in trust by the Department in the courts and the Guardian’s Fund. Various bids were invited to and the selection process will be finalized in due course.

 

 

Modernisation

In order to improve the efficiency of the courts we are rolling out connectivity to all courts. Currently there are 230 remaining courts which have been prioritized in the next six months. This will complete the connectivity of all our courts.

The judiciary

Regarding the judiciary we are confident that under the able leadership of the Chief Justice we are confident that the transformation of the judiciary has received paramount attention. We express our congratulations to Judge President Ngoepe and Judge Nkabinde who have been appointed to the 11-member African Court on Human and People's Rights and the Constitutional Court respectively.

Justice College

Justice College is being transformed to establish a centre of learning for all legal personnel and administration staff in the Department and within the extended justice family. The current Justice College does not serve the training and development needs of all its main stakeholders. It has therefore become necessary to transform the College to comply with these changes and to serve the training needs of the entire DoJ&CD. We need a transformed Justice College which is capable of producing the human capital and ongoing research and development required for guaranteeing the success, viability and the sustainability of our Constitutional Democracy.

National Prosecuting Authority

The world is experiencing a twin phenomenon of diminishing respect for law and of increasing sophistication and internationalization of dishonest and violent activities. This is the challenge of crime, and this is the challenge the Department is meeting head-on through the National Prosecuting Authority. The capacity of the NPA will be enhanced through the appointment of additional to meet the objective of assigning two prosecutors per court for an efficient prosecuting service.

Conclusion

Once again thank you for inviting us to this Portfolio Committee

briefing today and I wish you well for the rest of the year.