19 June 2001
1. INTRODUCTION
It is my pleasure to report to this honourable House just over two years after taking office as the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. The efforts of my Ministry during these two years have been directed at fulfilling the promise of access to justice for all. In my report I will highlight six specific areas which I believe are of interest to the House:
2 REPORT ON PROGRESS
2.1 TRADITIONAL LEADERS
You all know that in terms of sections 12 and 20 of the Black Administration Act, 1927 (Act No. 38 of 1927), the Minister of Justice may authorize a traditional leader to hear and determine civil and criminal claims arising out of Black law and custom brought before him by Blacks against Blacks resident within his area of jurisdiction. In some provinces, there is other legislation relating to the appointment and conferment of such civil and criminal jurisdiction, for instance the Kwazulu Amakhosi and Iziphakanyiswa Act, 1990 (Act No. 9 of 1990), which is applicable in the province of Kwazulu-Natal.
The former Minister of Justice, in terms of a mandate given to him by the former President, suspended the conferment of jurisdiction upon traditional leaders in July 1996. The Minister requested the Department to research the legal position regarding the appointment of and conferment of jurisdiction on traditional leaders and the nature and extent of their jurisdictions, as well as the consolidation of the various legislation applicable to traditional leaders. In particular, he indicated that clarity was required with regard to the following issues:
After researching these issues, the Department submitted a report to the Minister on 13 December 1999, recommending that the Minister uplift the embargo on conferment of civil and criminal jurisdiction upon traditional leaders, while the process of conducting more detailed research was continued by the South African Law Commission, members of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Department of Provincial and Local Government; and if approved, that the minimum standards as required in terms of the Constitution should be brought to the attention of the traditional leaders, because in the exercise of their powers, such minimum standards must be adhered to.
The Minister uplifted the embargo on the conferment of civil and criminal jurisdiction upon traditional leaders on 13 December 1999; and approved the dispatch of a letter to Traditional Leaders drawing their attention to the need to comply with the provisions of the Constitution in the exercise of the authority conferred upon them.
The letter stated that the Department would prepare a manual on minimum standards required by the Constitution and that the South African Law Commission was in the process of consultation with Traditional Leaders with a view to developing appropriate legislation. A Bill is currently being finalized by the South African Law Commission and, if approved by Cabinet, will be tabled before Parliament so that law can be enacted, which will harmonize traditional courts with the provisions of the Constitution and include them in the overall structure of courts in South Africa.
2.2 INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE COURT EFFICIENCY
2.3 RATIONALIZATION OF THE COURTS
On 2 April 2001, the Ministry, together with senior officials of the Department, met in Cape Town with the President of the Constitutional Court, the acting Chief Justice and other senior members of the Judiciary to discuss policy issues relating to the structure and functioning of the courts. The commitment of the Judiciary to transformation was reaffirmed.
The meeting agreed on the following broad principles relating to the judiciary:
MAKING OUR COURTS MORE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL:
We are committed to continuing our focus on court infrastructure and the upgrading of our Courts will remain a major challenge. Significant progress is substantiated by 56 new courtrooms at 19 court buildings, which were completed during 1999, as well as a further 88 new courtrooms at 28 court buildings, which were constructed during 2000. Most of these projects have been undertaken in previously disadvantaged rural areas of our country and will undoubtedly contribute to the goal of bringing justice closer to the people. The projects include five community safety centres founded on an integrated and one-stop service basis.
The following areas, in provinces with the highest overall levels of crime, have been identified and will be piloted:
We have also recently refurbished and constructed 7 new courtrooms in the west wing of the High Court in Cape Town.
As regards the general security measures in our courts, we have allocated additional resources to increase our security cover this year by 100%. We will therefore be catering for at least about 40 % of our offices countrywide. We intend to intensify our efforts in the coming years.
COMMERCIAL COURTS
The growing impact of commercially based crimes on business, both directly in terms of loss of profits and indirectly in terms of uncertainty of international investment, precipitated a collective effort by the justice cluster and various business associations, to address the deterioration in the ability of the "justice system" to deal effectively with commercial crime.
The first special commercial court pilot project was established in Pretoria. Special commercial courts are also planned for Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
RE-DEMARCATION OF MAGISTERIAL BOUNDARIES
As part of the transformation process in government, the Department began examining its functional or service delivery boundaries in 1994. This process was placed on hold while the Municipal Demarcation Board completed its task of redrawing municipal boundaries. With the gazetting of the new municipal areas, the Department was able to re-institute the process of the re-demarcation of magisterial district boundaries.
This process involved the constitution of representative Regional Steering Committees, which have been consulting with all stakeholders and examining the boundaries of every magisterial district in each province, with a view to aligning the boundaries to those of the new municipal areas as far as is possible. The principles guiding the process are:
On the basis of the reports received from the Regional Steering Committees, the National Steering Committee will make final recommendations in respect of the boundaries of all magisterial districts. The boundaries will then be declared in the Government Gazette.
2.4 CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGIES – JUSTICE INITIATIVES
COMBATTING TRANSNATIONAL ORGANISED CRIME
In recognition of this need, the United Nations Commission for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in consultation and co-operation with its member states, developed the United Nations Convention against Trans-national Organised Crime. South Africa actively participated in the development of the Convention, which took eighteen months to finalise. Many countries, including South Africa, signed the Convention at a ceremony in Palermo, Italy, in December 2000. This Convention will provide a measure of similarity among states in the provisions that criminalize the conduct associated with organised crime, such as money laundering, corruption, obstruction of justice, and smuggling of, or trafficking in firearms, and human beings. The Convention will also provide a basis for extradition and mutual legal assistance among states. This will greatly facilitate the pursuit of organised criminals through the domestic legal systems of countries around the world. As a consequence, trans-national organised criminal groups will find it increasingly difficult to hide from justice through their blatant disregard of international borders.
Since signing the Convention, South Africa has been participating in a regional process whereby the buy-in of members of the Southern African Development Community, who were not actively involved in the development of the Convention, is obtained. Once individual countries have ratified the Convention, it will be implemented in a co-ordinated manner at the regional level.
DEMAND REDUCTION PROGRAMME
While we have been generally successful in dealing with the problem of importation of illicit drugs and narcotics into South Africa, it is clear that more needs to be done.
The Cluster of Ministers is committed to National Initiatives to reduce the demands for illegal drugs and to strengthen our immunity, and will provide a coherent, integrated and coordinated approach in our fight against drugs. The drug problem goes way beyond mere law enforcement. We require long term strategies to deal with this social pathology, which is a major cause of crime, poverty, family dysfunctionality and reduced productivity.
PREVENTION OF ORGANISED CRIME ACT, 1998 AND THE AFU
The Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 1998, and the establishment of the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) were important steps towards dealing with organized crime.
Thus far, the AFU has initiated 42 seizures and 16 forfeiture cases. It has seized assets totaling about R165 million from criminals and placed them under the control of a curator appointed by the court.
3. CLOSURE
I would wish to extend to this house and its honourable members sincere appreciation for your assistance throughout the year regarding our legislative and other endeavours aimed at improving service delivery to the people.
I thank you.