A new draft of the much-delayed Superior Courts Bill will soon be presented to Cabinet, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said on Wednesday.

The Bill seeks to restructure the judiciary and integrate the Labour Court into South Africa's High Courts.

"We are still consulting with the Chief Justice and the heads of courts but very soon we will be able to go to Cabinet," Radebe said on the sidelines of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews with aspiring judges in Cape Town.

The Minister said "realistically" the Bill could reach Parliament late this year or early next year.

The slant of JSC commissioners' questions to candidates for vacancies at the Labour Court and Labour Appeals Court strongly suggested that the integration of Labour Courts into high courts was about to become a reality.

The sole candidate for the position of Deputy Judge President of the Labour Appeals Court Basheer Waglay, was quizzed about a paper he penned several years ago setting out his opposition to the disappearance of the Labour Courts in their current form.

He sought to assure commissioners he would not oppose a reorganisation of the courts provided their special expertise was not lost.

Urmila Bhoola, one of three candidates for a vacancy at the Labour Court, was asked whether she had sufficient experience to be able to hear general cases if the court were integrated into the High Court.

The draft proposal, which includes joining the Labour Appeals Court to the Supreme Court of Appeal, dates from 2001 when then Justice Minister Penuell Maduna suggested the country could not afford the cost of running specialist courts.

In response, business and labour argued that if this were to happen, the function and expertise of the Labour Courts should be retained, possibly by keeping a special Labour Court roll.

National Economic Development and Labour Council representative Elize Strydom said after the interviews that the collective wrote to Radebe six weeks ago but had had no insight into the latest draft of the Bill.

"It was news to us that the matter has been discussed at the weekend and I think we might write to the Minister again to get an idea of where we are," she said.

The Bill is controversial because it is seen as an attempt by government to take control of the administration of courts.

It was withdrawn by former President Thabo Mbeki in 2006 for further consideration and consultation with the judiciary after the opposition charged it would give the Justice Minister the power to hand-pick judges to hear certain cases and undermine the independence of the judiciary.

After he was appointed in May, Radebe vowed he would not leave the Bill on the shelf much longer as he believed it was vital for the speedy transformation of the judiciary.