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Court lack skills - Mogoeng
GCIS
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng addresses the
Judicial Officers Association of South Africa
Gala dinner at the Kopanong conference centre in
Benoni. Picture: GCIS
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has admitted that
the judiciary is not efficient and pleaded with
judicial officers to embrace quality and speedy
service delivery.
Mogoeng told magistrates attending the Judicial
Officers Association of South Africa (Joasa)
gala dinner at the Kopanong Conference Centre in
Benoni, east of Joburg, on Friday that he was
shocked at the level of inefficiency in the
judiciary.
Joasa, the representative body of magistrates,
held its annual general meeting this weekend.
“There are a number of factors influencing the
performance and under-performance of the
judiciary. The under-performance of one or two
courts undermines public confidence in the
entire court system.”
Mogoeng warned: “We can’t afford to be
associated with absenteeism, any form of
irresponsibility or dereliction of duty or poor
performance.”
He said court interpreters were poor and that
the judiciary should take over the interpreting
services from the Justice Department.
“People lose cases because of interpretation.
That is a serious problem,” he said. “I don’t
know who trains these people.”
Mogoeng also said the quality of police
investigations caused delays of cases in court.
He slammed cops who continued to investigate
cases when they were already in court.
According to Mogoeng, while judges and
magistrates were independent when it came to
taking decisions on cases before them, they were
not free to take as long as they wanted to
finalise cases and deliver reserved judgments.
“The South African judiciary will never be as
effective and efficient as it can be, for as
long as it is still not a single unified unit,”
Mogoeng said.
A single judiciary would mean one governance
framework for judges and magistrates,
application of a uniform complaint handling
mechanism and streamlining courts to establish a
unitary system.
Last year, some of the country’s more than 2 000
magistrates embarked on an unprecedented strike
over wages.
Mogoeng said magistrates’ dignity had to be
enhanced, and remuneration packages and
employment benefits should match their enormous
responsibilities.
“Significant improvement is required in the
provision of resources necessary to raise their
performance levels,” he said.
Mogoeng promised to work towards a salary
dispensation that reduced the salary gap between
judges and magistrates.
“I’m not running for any office, I’m not a
populist. I’m not saying things so that you can
clap hands,” he assured magistrates.
Earlier, Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery
said it was not feasible to extend judges’
benefits to magistrates.
Magistrates earn between R700 000 and just above
R1 million a year based on seniority, while
judges are paid between R1.5m and R2.4m, in
Mogoeng’s case.
Judges are also guaranteed a salary for life,
which is not the case with magistrates.
“No country has an unlimited public purse,” he
said.
Jeffery urged magistrates to engage the
Independent Commission for the Remuneration of
Public Office Bearers rather than go on strike.
“Industrial action is improper, judicial
officers are not employees,” said Jeffery,
adding that magistrates’ demands had to be
resolved through positive engagement.
Jeffery pleaded with magistrates to improve
productivity of courts to eradicate backlogs.
He said average court times had dropped in
magistrate’s and high courts despite
administrative functions being removed from
judicial officers. l
Court lack skills - Mogoeng
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