Date: 30/07/2004
Source: Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development
Title: B Mabandla: Opening of Grahamstown High Court
ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MS BRIGITTE MABANDLA, MP, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE GRAHAMSTOWN HIGH COURT, 30 July 2004
Programme Director
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure in the presence of the local community and the distinguished guests to address you before inaugurating this beautifully restored and historical home of the Grahamstown High Court.
I am told that this court started sitting 144 years ago in a Community Hall. It has also been extended and undergone a number of cosmetic changes over the years. Two years ago a renovations and upgrade programme for the court was approved to make the court more user friendly and accessible to all the people of this town, especially the disabled through the addition of a lift and ramps.
It is the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development's mandate to ensure access to justice for all the citizens of this country. It is for this reason that in the last two years we have taken a conscious decision to build and improve the majority of court facilities in previously disadvantaged rural and urban areas of the country, where there is an acute need for courts and related facilities for the dispensation of justice. This will even out the distribution of infrastructure within communities and enhance our ability to provide improved access to justice for all. The renovation of this court serves that purpose. In the current financial year, we have planned to refurbish 100 of the 361 courts that need to be renovated. Clearly, because of the serious historical neglect of some of these court facilities and huge demands placed on our budget, the process of renovating and maintaining these courts will necessarily have to be over a number of years.
We have prioritised the creation of adequate facilities in order to deal decisively with imbalances and inequalities that continue to impact on the people of South African in terms of geographical dispersal. Landmarks such as courts of law and worship places have always occupied an important role in our society, and many other societies globally, as places of sanctuary. However, in this country, courts of law were for decades, strong allies of a repressive and unjust regime. They actively played a prominent role in subjugating those seeking access to justice. Naturally, even after 1994 many people still viewed the court system with a degree of suspicion.
It is therefore interesting that in the last decade South Africa has become such a litigious society. Increasing numbers of ordinary people are turning to courts at all levels to enforce their Constitutional rights. That South Africans' confidence in the criminal justice system continues to soar can be attributed to the dignified way that the country's courts and those associated with it have conducted themselves and therefore earned the respect of the general public. The court system has in the past established itself as one of the primary pillars of our Constitutional democracy.
The Constitution, which emerged from our negotiated settlement, has become the pride and joy of all South Africans. On the basis of respect for human dignity, equality, and freedom, it has enabled us to live together in peace and embark in a principled way on programmes of extensive social transformation. The Courts have played an exemplary role in ensuring that the Constitution is respected. They have ensured that all public power has to be exercised within the framework of the Constitution, and that the values of the Constitution permeate the entire development of law.
The invitation to me to inaugurate this splendidly renovated building in the tenth year of our democracy, gives me the opportunity to re-affirm the government's unswerving commitment to the Constitution, the rule of law and the decisions of our Courts. In his speech at the official opening of the Constitutional Court new building, President Mbeki said that: "As South Africans we are all partners in the great enterprise of ensuring that the promise of the Constitution is fully realised in the lives of each and every South African. The Constitution lives as a vital compact at the core of national life." We all derive our authority from the Constitution and function within its terms.
We in government are particularly appreciative of the principled and forward-looking role that our Courts have played. In a country deeply divided by past racial oppression and still marked by strong patterns of inequality, the Courts have proved to be institutions that give an equal and impartial hearing to all. Guided by the requirements of the Constitution, they have attended with appropriate dignity and seriousness to many controversial questions, earning universal respect for its fully reasoned judgments.
It would be useful to remember that, as a country, when we embarked upon the difficult but necessary transition from apartheid to democracy and as a crucial bit of our political settlement, we chose to retain the judicial structures and personnel we inherited. In fact, South Africa 's present court structure, with the exception of the Constitutional Court, has been in place since 1910, when the South Africa Act 1909, was brought into operation, creating the Union of South Africa. This, it has to be remembered, was notwithstanding the fact that the majority of our people legitimately had no faith in any of them.
South Africa's interim Constitution provided that " as soon as is practical after the new Constitution took effect, all courts, including their structure, composition, functioning and jurisdiction, and all relevant legislation, must be rationalised with a view to establishing a judicial system suited to the requirements of the new Constitution. "This is a process that we have embarked upon since 1994 with considerable vigour and determination.
Considerable work, by all role players has gone into ensuring that the majority of the people of this country accept the court system as legitimate and just. It is therefore pleasing that our Courts, as custodians of this country's Constitution, have since 1994 played a critical role in winning back the respect of our people for the judiciary and in the process this has benefited the entire judicial system in South Africa. It is clear that the public's trust in our new Constitution has, over the first 10 years of our democracy, grown and it continues to put its faith in the new legal frameworks that we have been and will continue to put in place.
Clearly, our primary challenge in the next five years is to deliver the necessary infrastructure and appropriately trained personnel. However, for our courts to function optimally we need to ensure the complete buy-in of the communities in which they are located. It for this reason that we need to intensify our programmes directed at improving access to justice through a number of holistic and integrated measures and awareness campaigns that involve the community. Such action would help improve the kind of service rendered in our court facilities and strengthen the criminal justice process.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that the success of this court depends on the dedication of the staff that works here and the support of the community. This court belongs to the community of Grahamstown and surrounding areas that it services.
Thank you!
Issued by: Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Development
30 July 2004
Source: Department of Justice & Constitutional Development (http://www.doj.gov.za)
Source: Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development
Title: B Mabandla: Opening of Grahamstown High Court
ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MS BRIGITTE MABANDLA, MP, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE GRAHAMSTOWN HIGH COURT, 30 July 2004
Programme Director
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure in the presence of the local community and the distinguished guests to address you before inaugurating this beautifully restored and historical home of the Grahamstown High Court.
I am told that this court started sitting 144 years ago in a Community Hall. It has also been extended and undergone a number of cosmetic changes over the years. Two years ago a renovations and upgrade programme for the court was approved to make the court more user friendly and accessible to all the people of this town, especially the disabled through the addition of a lift and ramps.
It is the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development's mandate to ensure access to justice for all the citizens of this country. It is for this reason that in the last two years we have taken a conscious decision to build and improve the majority of court facilities in previously disadvantaged rural and urban areas of the country, where there is an acute need for courts and related facilities for the dispensation of justice. This will even out the distribution of infrastructure within communities and enhance our ability to provide improved access to justice for all. The renovation of this court serves that purpose. In the current financial year, we have planned to refurbish 100 of the 361 courts that need to be renovated. Clearly, because of the serious historical neglect of some of these court facilities and huge demands placed on our budget, the process of renovating and maintaining these courts will necessarily have to be over a number of years.
We have prioritised the creation of adequate facilities in order to deal decisively with imbalances and inequalities that continue to impact on the people of South African in terms of geographical dispersal. Landmarks such as courts of law and worship places have always occupied an important role in our society, and many other societies globally, as places of sanctuary. However, in this country, courts of law were for decades, strong allies of a repressive and unjust regime. They actively played a prominent role in subjugating those seeking access to justice. Naturally, even after 1994 many people still viewed the court system with a degree of suspicion.
It is therefore interesting that in the last decade South Africa has become such a litigious society. Increasing numbers of ordinary people are turning to courts at all levels to enforce their Constitutional rights. That South Africans' confidence in the criminal justice system continues to soar can be attributed to the dignified way that the country's courts and those associated with it have conducted themselves and therefore earned the respect of the general public. The court system has in the past established itself as one of the primary pillars of our Constitutional democracy.
The Constitution, which emerged from our negotiated settlement, has become the pride and joy of all South Africans. On the basis of respect for human dignity, equality, and freedom, it has enabled us to live together in peace and embark in a principled way on programmes of extensive social transformation. The Courts have played an exemplary role in ensuring that the Constitution is respected. They have ensured that all public power has to be exercised within the framework of the Constitution, and that the values of the Constitution permeate the entire development of law.
The invitation to me to inaugurate this splendidly renovated building in the tenth year of our democracy, gives me the opportunity to re-affirm the government's unswerving commitment to the Constitution, the rule of law and the decisions of our Courts. In his speech at the official opening of the Constitutional Court new building, President Mbeki said that: "As South Africans we are all partners in the great enterprise of ensuring that the promise of the Constitution is fully realised in the lives of each and every South African. The Constitution lives as a vital compact at the core of national life." We all derive our authority from the Constitution and function within its terms.
We in government are particularly appreciative of the principled and forward-looking role that our Courts have played. In a country deeply divided by past racial oppression and still marked by strong patterns of inequality, the Courts have proved to be institutions that give an equal and impartial hearing to all. Guided by the requirements of the Constitution, they have attended with appropriate dignity and seriousness to many controversial questions, earning universal respect for its fully reasoned judgments.
It would be useful to remember that, as a country, when we embarked upon the difficult but necessary transition from apartheid to democracy and as a crucial bit of our political settlement, we chose to retain the judicial structures and personnel we inherited. In fact, South Africa 's present court structure, with the exception of the Constitutional Court, has been in place since 1910, when the South Africa Act 1909, was brought into operation, creating the Union of South Africa. This, it has to be remembered, was notwithstanding the fact that the majority of our people legitimately had no faith in any of them.
South Africa's interim Constitution provided that " as soon as is practical after the new Constitution took effect, all courts, including their structure, composition, functioning and jurisdiction, and all relevant legislation, must be rationalised with a view to establishing a judicial system suited to the requirements of the new Constitution. "This is a process that we have embarked upon since 1994 with considerable vigour and determination.
Considerable work, by all role players has gone into ensuring that the majority of the people of this country accept the court system as legitimate and just. It is therefore pleasing that our Courts, as custodians of this country's Constitution, have since 1994 played a critical role in winning back the respect of our people for the judiciary and in the process this has benefited the entire judicial system in South Africa. It is clear that the public's trust in our new Constitution has, over the first 10 years of our democracy, grown and it continues to put its faith in the new legal frameworks that we have been and will continue to put in place.
Clearly, our primary challenge in the next five years is to deliver the necessary infrastructure and appropriately trained personnel. However, for our courts to function optimally we need to ensure the complete buy-in of the communities in which they are located. It for this reason that we need to intensify our programmes directed at improving access to justice through a number of holistic and integrated measures and awareness campaigns that involve the community. Such action would help improve the kind of service rendered in our court facilities and strengthen the criminal justice process.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that the success of this court depends on the dedication of the staff that works here and the support of the community. This court belongs to the community of Grahamstown and surrounding areas that it services.
Thank you!
Issued by: Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Development
30 July 2004
Source: Department of Justice & Constitutional Development (http://www.doj.gov.za)
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