South Africa’s courts are falling apart across much of the country and lack basic equipment such as telephones, paper and recording and transcription devices.
Disgruntled judiciary members this week flagged reports on court defects and challenges, to add to constant anger over conditions of service and salaries. Last year some magistrates threatened to down tools to force the government to deal with their concerns.
On Monday in Mpumalanga, a ceiling in the Middelburg magistrate’s court collapsed, tough it was unoccupied. Debris and light fittings fell on the seats where attorneys and the magistrate would sit.
“Nobody was injured,” said court manager William Nyathi. “When they opened in the morning, they saw the ceiling had fallen.” Staff were “shuffling things around” to avoid disruptions.
Frustrated magistrates provided examples of perilous working conditions, noted in recent reports — so far without a significant response from the departments of justice or public works — which are directly responsible for court working conditions.
There's no internet. We can't do remote cases on Zoom or Teams. There's no working ladies' toilet and about 20 women ladies in the office
— Simon's Town magistrate Denni Leppan
Their plight will be discussed in parliament this month by the justice portfolio committee, after a petition to President Cyril Ramaphosa in December by more than 300 magistrates to sign off on a recommended salary increase.
Broken and damaged court infrastructure affect the entire country, notably the administration of justice, said the magistrates.
“I have two phones on my desk, neither is working,” said Simon’s Town magistrate Denni Leppan. “There’s no internet. We can’t do remote cases on Zoom or Teams. There’s no working ladies’ toilet and about 20 women in the office.”
Some of the problems flagged at lower courts, and some high courts, include:
- Elukwatine magistrate’s court, Mpumalanga, had no electricity and only intermittent water;
- Welkom magistrate’s court had no running water;
- Polokwane magistrate’s court, recently rebuilt, lacked furniture and had two working recording and transcription machines for nine courtrooms;
- Malmesbury circuit regional court has yet to be renovated three years after a fire;
- Johannesburg's’s high court leaks when it rains, despite years of complaints;
- Only one lift at the Durban magistrate’s court was found working last year and the building was regarded as a fire hazard;
- Stellenbosch regional court awaited renovations for a decade;
- Hermanus circuit regional court operated in caravans for years; and
- Mitchells Plain and Simon’s Town lacked official stamps and telephones.
Similar issues affected other courts, largely due to budget cuts and procurement inefficiency, said insiders. A public protector report in June found only one of 38 courts inspected were operating for “efficient service delivery”.
“The majority of courts do not have proper filing systems and spaces,” it read, noting incomplete building projects, cracked walls, leaking roofs, unhygienic toilets, exposed electrical wiring and broken ceilings, doors and windows.
A separate research report, published last year by the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit at the University of Cape Town, painted a bleak picture. Security was a big concern — almost a quarter of 230 magistrates surveyed reported work-related physical harm or threats over 12 months. About 16% of female magistrates reported being sexually harassed or knowing a colleague who had been. A third of magistrates said the infrastructure was adequate, good or excellent. Other respondents said it was “poor”.
“It’s a national issue — and not conducive to the implementation of justice,” said magistrate Rohan Roopnarian, office head of the Vanrhynsdorp magisterial district.
Magistrates Commission statistics from 2024 said there were 1,475 magistrates in total and about 229 vacancies to be filled.
Advocacy groups, such as the Association of Regional Magistrates of Southern Africa (Armsa) and Judges Matter said maintenance funding shortfalls were compounded by a lack of government departmental co-ordination. “The justice department has been trying to get public works to increase their minor maintenance fund from R1m to R5m, but that has not progressed,” said Mbekezeli Benjamin at Judges Matter.
“The salary impasse, low morale and shortage of even basic equipment like paper had a direct impact on court operations.”
A case triggering the public protector report was gender-based violence victim Altecia Kortje, who was turned away at the Bellville magistrate’s court in 2020 while trying to apply for a protection order — against the man who subsequently murdered her.
“This case illustrated the tragic consequences caused by a ‘perfect storm’ of court challenges,” Benjamin said.
Armsa produced a list of concerns. Inadequate security and remuneration featured prominently.
“Magistrates have helplessly watched colleagues die violent deaths in the past due to their work at the hands of ruthless and violent criminals,” said Armsa. “They have watched with utter horror and helplessness vital witnesses involved in crucial cases before them mercilessly mowed down before them, countrywide without any perceived or effective intervention from the government. The government has refused to compile and enact an effective and acceptable security policy to protect magistrates at work and at home.”
Armsa president Ian Cox said defunct air-conditioners were an additional concern.
“I am in Gauteng and sometimes my brain feels like a raisin. Limpopo, Northern Cape, Free State and the other warmer parts of the country are worse.”
Workplace challenges featured in the latest department of justice annual report, which noted digitalisation and modernisation were “hindered by challenges such as capacity constraints, procurement delays and budget constraints”.
Responding to questions from the Sunday Times, James de Villiers, spokesperson for minister of public works & infrastructure Dean Macpherson, he said since the minister's appointment seven months ago, he had personally demanded accountability at many court facilities, recognising the derelict state they were in.
“At the Durban magistrate’s court, for example, he instructed officials to urgently repair the lifts to ensure that court proceedings could continue without interruption. It is simply unacceptable that justice is often delayed due to the poor state of court facilities. This is why the minister is working with experts to develop long-term solutions to address these challenges,” De Villiers said.
Asked about the challenges the department is faced with, he said: “Due to the state’s budgetary processes, client departments — such as the department of justice — are allocated budgets for the construction of new facilities, while the department of public works & infrastructure acts as the implementing agent. Often, these client departments are not allocated sufficient resources to meet their infrastructure needs. We also need to discuss devolving some of these functions to line departments to carry out.”
De Villiers said the department did not have an accurate estimate of the total amount required for proper maintenance of these facilities. “However, we are aware that across state-owned buildings, billions of rand are needed to address urgent maintenance backlogs.”
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