20% judicial increase and new local seats announced as court rationalisation plans get green light

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi briefs the media on the implementation of the Rationalisation Reports. Picture: X/@DOJCD_ZA Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi has announced cabinet-approved court rationalisation plans to fix apartheid-era boundaries, creating new High Court seats and increasing judicial posts by 20% to bring justice closer to communities. The ministerand deputy minister Andries Nel briefed the nation on Tuesday afternoon about the implementation of the rationalisation report.

The briefing followed the finalisation and tabling of the reports by the rationalisation committee, led by former chief justice Dikgang Moseneke. Kubayi said rationalisation is important because the inherited court system from the pre-democratic era continues to impede access to justice, particularly for remote communities and defunct homelands. “These communities are frequently forced to travel long distances, at a huge cost, to access courts,” the minister said.

She said it is necessary to create a judicial system that aligns with the constitutional requirements and facilitates access to justice, especially for the poor and vulnerable. The rationalisation process involves redefining magisterial districts and divisions of the High Court to improve access to justice. The department of justice and constitutional development began implementing the rationalisation of magisterial districts in Gauteng and North West in 2014; Limpopo and Mpumalanga in 2016; the Northern Cape in 2018; and the remaining four provinces of the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape in 2022.

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In June 2021, then minister Ronald Lamola established the rationalisation committee, chaired by Moseneke, to rationalise the areas under the jurisdiction of the High Court divisions. The committee received submissions from the department, the Office of the Chief Justice, all the divisions of the High Court, the Magistrates Commission, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Legal Aid South Africa, and the Legal Practice Council. The committee completed its work in two phases, each with its own set of recommendations.

The first-phase report, submitted on 15 July 2023, recommended defining magisterial districts and sub-districts for each High Court main and local seat’s jurisdiction. The report proposed establishing new local seats: the Gauteng Division at Palm Ridge, the Free State Division at Welkom, the North West Division at Rustenburg, the Northern Cape Division at Upington, and the Western Cape Division at Thembalethu.

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