Chaos reigned at Pretoria magistrates’ courts for the second day on Wednesday when most cases had to be postponed.

This was mainly because there were not enough regional court magistrates to handle the cases.

Although court personnel have been told this week that some courts will be closed due to a shortage of magistrates, top officials deny this, saying there is “no problems” at the courts.

These officials referred to the official court programme, which indicated there was a magistrate allocated to every regional court and the sexual offences courts.

‘We cannot say there is a shortage of magistrates at the Pretoria court’
Later this year there will be only one vacancy when a magistrate leaves, the records stated.

“There is a nation-wide investigation to establish the workload of courts and whether there is enough manpower. But we cannot say there is a shortage of magistrates at the Pretoria court,” one official said.

However, at least four of the 15 courts have not been operating during the past week.

With more than 2 000 outstanding cases on the roll, this resulted in prosecutors scrambling to find someone who could at least postpone their trials in the interim.

Some of the cases at the sexual offences courts have already been postponed eight times because no magistrate has been available. The witnesses in these cases are mostly children.

‘Some of us are sole breadwinners’
Apparently the problem started when the contracts of five magistrates were not renewed.

They are currently completing their partly-heard cases, but cannot start new trials. Three magistrates will have help out at the sexual offences courts, which will mean that they will be unable to hear matters in their own courts.

This could lead to an additional six-month delay in all these cases.

This will also lead to several stenographers effectively being unemployed. They are paid per hour and if their courts are not operating, they do not get money.

One distraught stenographer, who was in tears, said: “Some of us are sole breadwinners. We cannot be without a job.”

The stenographers were told there was a shortage of magistrates and officials could not find replacements. Prosecutors were told the same and that several courts would be closed as a result. Prosecutors also say their courts are starting late since the magistrates available have to rush from one courtroom to another.

One angry lawyer said: “Write it so the country can take note: the Pretoria magistrate’s court is in tatters.”

Some of them asked that charges against their clients be withdrawn, as the postponements were costing the clients money and denying them the right to a speedy trial.

The prosecutors asked not to be identified as they and stenographers had been prohibited from officially speaking to the media. Lawyers made the same request, fearing they and their clients might be victimised.

This article was originally published on page 2 of Pretoria News on January 20, 2005

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>