Coronavirus in SA: NPA says public's health and safety is of utmost importance
Gavel. Gavel.
Durban - The National Prosecuting Authority has denied a claim that they are not ensuring the safety of all staff and the public at the Verulam Magistrate's Court amid the Covid-10 pandemic.
In the POST Newspaper this week, a prosecutor at the courthouse claimed that although her job was deemed an essential service she feared that working during the national lockdown would place her in danger of contracting the virus.
The prosecutor said she wanted management to ensure everyone at court was adhering to protective and security measures mandated by the government.
She claimed the courthouse remained busy but only a few people wore masks and gloves.
She further claimed her colleagues bought their own masks and gloves and were given a bottle of hand sanitiser, while the security officers were issued with gloves.
The prosecutor said she was also in contact with a woman and child who appeared sick and that there was no toilet paper and soap in the lavatories as there was allegedly no budget.
She said the security did not have infra-red thermometers to check on those entering the premises and that no measures were taken to ensure their safety.
The prosecutor said she escalated her concerns to management.
At the time of publication, the POST had not sought comment from the NPA and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Today, the NPA said a roster was created for personnel on duty at the Verulam Magistrate's Court.
They said they were operating with minimum staff, who are released as soon as they have completed their daily duties, and that in the interest of the safety of staff at this office, a senior prosecutor and the acting court manager cancelled her leave to remain on duty every day until the close of business.
The NPA said sanitisers, gloves and masks were allocated to the staff and all toilets have toilet rolls and soap.
"The building has been sanitised and continues to be done on a daily basis. All persons entering the two court buildings are sanitised.
"The entrance to the two court buildings at Verulam is strictly monitored and the applicable registers for any person entering the court are in place.
"The social distancing of one metre is constantly monitored and complied with by security personnel at court and overseen by the presiding officer in each courtroom."
The NPA said executive committee meetings were convened daily during the lockdown period.
"We have been informed by the Acting Court Manager that the temperature thermometers are still awaited."
Pat Moodley, the regional head for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in KZN, said: “We are currently engaged as South African public servants trying to manage a situation that we could never have imagined possible a few weeks ago.
“Our courts are a pillar of our Constitutional democracy and we need to ensure that it remains accessible to the public for all essential services which include Children’s Court applications and Domestic Violence applications. This in the face of a lack of availability of PPEs (Personal protective equipment); transport for our staff and ensuring that our courts are safe and sanitised.”
* The POST, which prides itself for getting all the relevant sides of a story, apologises for not garnering comments from the relevant authorities on the allegations at the time of going to print. We hereby retract the story and commend the essential service staff for their contributions to ensuring public safety during the national lockdown.
DIRECTIONS ON ESSENTIAL JUSTICE SERVICES DURING THE LOCKDOWN:
- Essential justice services will be available at courts only between 10am and 1pm.
- Family law services will only attend to urgent applications in respect of matters referred to the Family Advocate by the court with urgent applications. Applications for protection orders will still be addressed, as well as enforcement orders.
- The offices of the Master of the High Court will attend to urgent appointments in terms of deceased estates as well as curatorship.
- Criminal courts will be open to preside over bail hearings and first applications.
- Matters on the court roll will be rescheduled and members of the public will be informed of the new dates for court appearances.
- Audio-visual remand technology at correctional centres will be used as widely as possible to mitigate the need for persons in custody to appear in court.
- Persons whose matters are on the court rolls and are not urgent should, therefore, for purposes of the lockdown, stay home and not attend to the courthouses until after the lockdown. The courts will also ensure that they are advised of the new dates to which their matters were postponed.
- Witnesses and accused who have appearance dates during the period of the lockdown are not required to attend and their appearance dates will be postponed to dates after the lockdown. After the lockdown, people are encouraged to go to court and find out the next appearance dates for their matters.