New judges to speed up justice delivery

South Africa's judiciary is to receive a boost with the addition of more judges to speed up the delivery of justice.

KwaZulu-Natal has been granted two judicial posts and the Transvaal provincial division has asked for an extra nine judges.

Out to enlarge the judiciary are KwaZulu-Natal acting Judge President Vuka Tshabalala and Judge Bernard Ngoepe of Gauteng, who have appealed to President Thabo Mbeki to enlarge the bench.

Members of the parliamentary committee on correctional services visited KwaZulu-Natal's largest prison this week and expressed outrage at the overcrowding, partly brought about by the slow justice system.

KwaZulu-Natal currently has 21 judges.

Acting

To cope with the shortage of judges, high courts were using acting judges at a pay slightly higher than that of their permanent counterparts as they also received more than R6 000 per month to maintain their practices.

This was in addition to being provided with secretaries, office accommodation, travel allowances and computers.

Tshabalala said his bench had six acting judges.

"I requested two more judges and was granted them because there are just too many cases. It's just too busy."

Asked about the cost implications of extra judges, Justice Ministry spokesperson Paul Setsetse said the department would have sufficient funds to carry the additional financial burden, singling out courts as their "core business".

"By beefing up the administration of justice, we will make a serious dent in the fight against crime," Setsetse said.

Ngoepe said the provision of extra judges would enhance the delivery of justice in his division, which covered the Northern Province, Mpumalanga and parts of North West Province.

Setsetse said the Judicial Services Commission would advertise the posts and make the appointments as speedily as possible.

Ngoepe had approached Justice Minister Penuell Maduna to increase the complement of his 53-member bench battling to deal with an increased workload exacerbated by judges being lost to long criminal cases.

Of the nine judges he had asked for, five would be based in Pretoria and four in Johannesburg.

Backlog

Setsetse confirmed that Maduna had already approached Mbeki who, in terms of the Supreme Court Act, determined the size of a provincial bench.

Ngoepe said his region, which incorporated the economic hub of Gauteng and therefore dealt with increasingly complex commercial cases, was in dire need of extra judges to tackle the backlog of cases.

As the most populous province, it was said that the Transvaal division had a backlog of criminal cases which, due to the shortage of judges, took years to conclude, resulting in the accused being kept in prison for longer periods at a staggering cost to the taxpayer.

Many judgments in these cases were reserved.

Western Cape Judge President Mandlakayise Hlophe said his division was coping, but did not rule out the possibility of requesting additional judges.