OPENING OF REGIONAL OFFICE BY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Issued by: The Department of Justice

MEDIA STATEMENT REGARDING THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE REGIONAL OFFICE: NORTHERN PROVINCE (PIETERSBURG) OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

One of the first major challenges which the Department of Justice faced after April 1994 was the process of integrating the eleven separate Justice departments which existed in the past into one unified department. To doe this the Department immediately began:

• rationalising laws and institutions;
• forming a coherent and uniform legal system throughout the country;
• streamlining the structures of various justice institutions;
• making processes and standards uniform; and
• ensuring that resources are distributed equally.

This signalled the start of the transformation process, a process which is still continuing and which has been documented as Justice Vision 2000.

On 20 November 1996 the Minister of Justice, Dr A M Omar, approved the implementation of the rationalised departmental structure consisting of a newly established National Head Office, as well as nine Regional Offices - one such office in each of the Provinces. Within this context the Regional Office of the Department of Justice in the Northern Province came into operation on 1 November 1997 with Adv M P Nthabalala as Regional Head. He sadly passed away on 5 January 1998 and Adv N M Rapetsoa was appointed as Acting Regional Head. Adv W K Sonti has been appointed Regional Head of this office on 1 October 1998. The Regional Office is situated at 92 Bok Street, Pietersburg. The new Regional Office in Pietersburg integrated the former Lebowa, Gazankulu, Venda and RSA administrations into one unified Regional Office.

The key responsibilities of this office relate to:

• human resource development and management in order to establish a personnel corps which is service orientated;
• community outreach to ensure positive-relationships with communities, including NGO's and other Community Based Organisations relevant to the administration of justice. Reaching out specifically to the disadvantage and disempowered to achieve greater participation in the administration of justice;
• financial resource management to facilitate sound and effective control systems;
• legal administration with the objective to attain effective administration of justice responsive to community needs.

The Northern Province Regional Office of the Department of Justice is the eighth Regional Office to be officially opened. The others were North West (Mmabatho), Eastern Cape (East London), KwaZulu-Natal (Durban), Free State (Bloemfontein), Gauteng (Johannesburg), Western Cape (Cape Town) and Northern Cape (Kimberley). The Minister of Justice, Dr Omar, will officiate at this event on Friday 30 October 1998.

ISSUED BY COMMUNICATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ON BEHALF OF THE REGIONAL HEAD: NORTHERN PROVINCE

29 OCTOBER 1998 PRETORIA

ENQUIRIES: ADV W K SONTI (REGIONAL HEAD) TEL : (015) 297 5577/8 FAX : (015) 297 5587