Government is moving to improve access to justice for all with the implementation of the rationalisation of the courts.
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi briefed the media on Tuesday on the department’s plans to ensure that the courts better serve communities.
“An independent judiciary and a well-functioning court system that gives full effect to the right to justice for all is the cornerstone of our democracy.
“Though significant progress has been made, post 1994, in configuring the court system in a way that increases access to justice for all, the court system that existed in South Africa prior to the democratic transition was left largely intact.
“As a result, the legacy of colonialism and apartheid continues to plague South Africa with spatial injustices and to impede access to courts for communities that reside in the areas that formed part of the defunct homelands and self-governing territories, as well as remote rural villages,” the Minister said.
To remedy this, the Interim Rationalisation of Jurisdiction of the High Court’s Act of 2001 introduced minimum changes and in 2014, the department commenced with the implementation of the rationalisation of Magisterial Districts in the provinces.
Furthermore in 2021, then Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, established a Committee on The Rationalisation of the Areas under the Jurisdiction and Judicial Establishments of the Divisions of the High Court of South Africa chaired by retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke.
“In essence, the committee was established to identify key elements of the current structure of our high courts that need to be changed with a view to ‘establishing a judicial system suited to the requirements of the Constitution’.
“The Rationalisation Committee’s report was completed in two phases, each with own recommendations,” she explained.
Kubayi noted that Cabinet has now approved the committee’s report and implementation which will be done in two phases.
The first phase includes:
• Implementation of the immediate recommendations of the Rationalisation Committee, which entails, recommendations regarding the Magisterial Districts and Sub-Districts in respect of which the Main and Local Seats of the respective Divisions of the High Court shall exercise jurisdiction, with the view to enhance access to justice, recommended by the Rationalisation Committee.
• With regards to local seats, Phase 1 of the implementation will entail gazetting and the usage of courts where infrastructure is already available, this comes into effect by 1 July 2026.
“The review of the guidelines for the appointment of Acting Judges has been completed. The final draft of the guidelines have been signed off by the Chief Justice and they will be gazetted for implementation and also comes into effect from 1st July 2026.
“A process has been initiated with National Treasury and Office of the Chief Justice to effect the 20% increase of the judicial posts to deal with the capacity challenges across the Divisions of the High Court, as recommended by the Rationalisation Committee,” Kubayi said.
Phase two of the implementation includes:
• A phased-in approach for implementation of the recommendations of the Rationalisation Committee regarding the establishment of additional local seats which entails the establishment of additional local seats through the building of new courts or expansion of the existing magistrates’ courts.
The expansion will include the Gauteng Division at Palm Ridge, Free State Division at Welkom, North West Division at Rustenburg, Northern Cape Division at Upington and the Western Cape Division at Thembalethu.
“After consultations with the Gauteng Judge President, Judge [Aubrey] Ledwaba, and other relevant stakeholders, we have agreed and initiated steps to establish a court in Kempton Park, next to OR Tambo airport.
“Though this initiative is not part of the recommendations of the rationalisation committee, we believe that the circumstances especially regarding immigration demand that we act swiftly to create the necessary infrastructure and justice systems to attend to this important matter,” Kubayi added.
The recommendation to move the seat of the Eastern Cape Division from Makhanda to Bhisho is currently still under consultation with stakeholders.
“As we celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, we must intensify our efforts to achieve the constitutional imperative with regards to rationalisation of Magisterial Districts and Divisions of the High Court.
“As we move with consolidation of court administration and judicial governance, merging magistrates and judges into a single judiciary to enhance independence we must also ensure that Access to justice for all remains at the centre of our efforts,” Kubayi concluded. – SAnews.gov.za
