Speaking Notes of the Chairperson of the South African Board for Sheriffs at the briefing with the Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee, 24 May 2007, Cape Town
Introduction
Chairperson, members of the Portfolio Committee, colleagues and friends, my name is Zodwa Nduna and I am the Chairperson of the South African Board for Sheriffs. This afternoon we will report on the activities of the organization in the following sequence and answer any questions the members may have.
I will introduce all the members of the Board as per their respective committees after which the chairperson of each committee will give a brief report on its activities. I will also deal with 4 issues that were raised by committee members last year and endeavour to detail our progress in that regard.
Sheriff s offices to be open during lunch time
Last year, Mr. Van der Merwe stated that he experienced poor service at the offices of the sheriff of Johannesburg Central in that it was not open during lunch hour i.e. 13:00 to 14:00. In response, we sent a circular to all sheriffs nationally requesting them to remain open during the stated times and sent this committee a copy of the circular. Whilst the response to the circular was not met with a lot of resistance, the one office that was initially mentioned by Mr. VanDer Merwe, reportedly did not accede to this request.
Mr. Van Der Merwe then referred the matter to the Public Protector who was then explained that whilst the South African Board for Sheriffs advocated that sheriffs offices be accessible to the public during lunch hour to ensure access to justice, the sheriff was not guilty of misconduct in terms of our Code of Conduct.
Returning to the sheriff of Johannesburg Central, we are pleased to report that the office is now open during lunch times. A letter to this effect was also received from the sheriff.
In respect of other offices, we can confirm that we have had several meetings with provincial Sheriffs Associations and will continue to do so.
At the AGM of the Gauteng Association of Sheriffs, a resolution was passed whereby all member sheriffs agreed to keep their offices open. It bears mentioning that of the 26 sheriffs present, only 1 was not open during lunch hour but he has now agreed to abide by the resolution of the meeting.
A similar request was made at the Western Cape Association of Sheriffs which was also favorably received. On 09 June 2007 we will also be appealing to all sheriffs at the National Conference to keep their offices open during lunch times. If we do not receive the co-operation from sheriffs, we will review the Code of Conduct.
Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the public has access to justice at all times, it bears mentioning that we have not received any complaints relating to access to justice since the circular was sent to all offices. Thank you for having brought this matter to our attention.
The next point that I would like to talk about is Fines.
Fines
Last year members noted that the fines that had been imposed by the SABFS were either too low and in some instance not even paid by sheriffs. We took heart from these comments and wish to report that in the year under review, we imposed fine amounts to the maximum of RIO 000 in several instances and all fines were paid.
Last year we raised R174 000 in respect of fines by comparison to R50 000 of the year before. In addition to this, we published the names of 12 sheriffs who were not issued with Fidelity Fund Certificates in the Sunday Times dated 11 February 2007. I have a copy of the advertisement should any member wish to see it. The fines total now stands at R 191 500.
Furthermore, we have also conducted research in respect of fine amounts and will be proposing amendments that will see us increase our maximum amounts and extending the area of application. We have a position paper on the matter should anybody need to have a look at it.
I wish to emphasize firstly that the proposed increase is meant to effect parity with other similar institutions. Secondly, an increase in the maximum amount of fine is intended to be a deterrent and not a source of income to the SABFS. We actually anticipate a significant reduction in the amount of fines that we will recover as the sheriffs will be reluctant to fall foul of any rules and there now appears to be a clear respect for the SABFS.
I wish to add that all fines are payable to the Fidelity Fund.
Non-service of Documents
Last year we were asked questions relating to the non-service of documents in instances where the defendant is not resident at the address as stated on the face ofthe document. In terms of the applicable rules, a sheriff may not follow a defendant even where the address is pointed out to him or her.
The SABFS has now formulated a position paper on the topic which illustrates the applicable rules, practical challenges and possible solutions. Members are free to collect copies of the paper.
Finances
The SABFS is still a struggling organization and will continue to be such without financial resources. In the last year we have worked at improving our situation by
proposing legislative amendments which, if approved, will allow us to be more active. The Chairperson of the H.R. and Finance Committee will speak to this later.
Secondly, we are hopeful that a Memorandum of Understanding will be entered into with the DOJCD which will hopefully result in funds being made available to us in respect of programmes earmarked by the Department.
Madam Chairperson, members of the Committee, I would like to conclude on this note and hand you over to the next speaker, and hope that I have covered all the areas to your satisfaction.