Address by the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Hon John Jeffery, MP, at the Small Claims Court Gala Dinner and Commissioners’ Long Service Awards, Pine Lake Inn, White River, Mpumalanga
Programme Director, Adv Phala
Judge President of the Gauteng Division of High Courts, Judge Mlambo
The Acting Premier, Mr Shongwe
Mr Du Preez from the Law Society
All commissioners and advisory board members present
Members of the legal profession
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
The practice of law is indeed an honourable profession. As former President Mandela once said –
"I regard it as a duty which I owed, not just to my people, but also to my profession, to the practice of law, and to the justice for all mankind, to cry out against this discrimination which is essentially unjust and opposed to the whole basis of the attitude towards justice which is part of the tradition of legal training in this country. I believed that in taking up a stand against this injustice I was upholding the dignity of what should be an honourable profession."
Attorneys and Advocates are officers of the court. We regard ourselves as part of a noble profession. And the most striking we can continuously commit our profession to a noble cause is by giving back to the community.
We all know that the majority of our people had no access to justice in the past. Today, even though we now have a progressive constitution and a vibrant democracy, we must do whatever we can to ensure access to justice for all.
And there are many views we can do this. For example, in the area of maintenance, we have appointed more maintenance investigators and we now pay maintenance monies via EFT into the accounts of maintenance beneficiaries.
Now many people would ask what is so special about an EFT payment? But if you are a single mother, with no money for transport to get to court, or you are working and if you take time off to go to court you will lose your day’s pay, or you have small children and have no one to look after them while you travel, sometimes great distances, to court – then an EFT payment makes a huge difference in someone’s life.
Ultimately, when we deliver justice services or community service, we must never forget that we are dealing with people, people who are often poor and often vulnerable.
One of the biggest services we can perform for a community is to act as a Small Claims Court commissioner or as a member of an advisory board.
This morning we launched the Nsikazi Small Claims Court in Kabokweni. And this court really addresses a great need of the community of Nsikazi as members of the community no longer have to travel all the way to Nelspruit – which was previously the nearest Small Claims Court.
They also cannot always afford the services of an attorney to represent them in their civil claims in the normal magistrates’ court.
The court statistics show us that this court truly makes a difference in the lives of the community it serves.
The community is making good use of this Small Claims Court, with cases relating to, amongst others, monies owed, return of goods and services rendered.
The statistics for the first 5 months of this current financial year only, from April 2015 to August 2015, already show 144 registered cases. Money owed makes up the bulk (101) of the cases.
The total amount or monetary value of these cases are by no means small – for example, the total value of the cases involving money owed is over R420 000. The value of cases involving the return of goods is over R60 000.
The total value of all registered cases, during this 5 month period, is R560 000.
This means that the members of that community are now able to institute civil claims worth more than half a million rand – which they would otherwise not have been able to claim or recover.
The Small Claims Court for Nsikazi was established during 2011 and has therefore significantly increased access to justice for that community – in same way as the other Small Claims Courts in Mpumalanga have done the same for their respective communities.
Small Claims Courts were first introduced in 1985. In 1994, at the dawn of our democracy, the Small Claims Courts were mostly in white and urban areas.
Since then, our Department has focused on establishing Small Claims Courts in areas that previously had no access to justice services. Currently, there are 362 Small Claims Courts nationally and additional Courts are being established on a continuous basis. And I am proud to announce that a further 3 Small Claims Courts were gazetted today, bringing the total number of Small Claims Courts up to 365. This means that we now have coverage, in terms of formally established Small Claims Courts, of 95% country-wide. In addition, there are also 82 places proclaimed as additional places of sitting for Small Claims Courts country-wide.
We are therefore fast approaching our goal of having a functioning Small Claims Court in each of South Africa's 393 magisterial districts.
Where, in the past, courts were mostly in urban, or predominantly white areas, this is no longer the case, with the vast majority of the new courts and places of sitting are in rural areas and former black areas.
Herein lies the most positive aspects of small claims courts – it levels the playing the field. If there is one court where the parties are truly equal before the law, it is the small claims court. It doesn’t matter if one party to a dispute is unable to afford a lawyer, because the parties represent themselves. The service is rendered free of charge and all one needs to pay are the sheriffs’ fees. And if a person doesn’t know how to go about the process, the clerk of the court is there to assist.
This evening is really about celebrating and acknowledging our commissioners. The commissioners are the backbone of these courts. Without Commissioners and Advisory Board members, there cannot be a Small Claims Court. The Small Claims Courts usually sit after hours and these commissioners assist on a voluntary basis, without any compensation. The sitting times of Small Claims Courts vary from area to area with the majority of the courts normally sitting in the evenings on week days. In this regard, I want to add that I have, however, indicated that nothing prevents the local role players (such as the commissioners, magistrates, court managers and clerks) to take local circumstances into consideration and allocate court sessions during the day.
We are very proud to announce that Mpumalanga now has a 100% coverage in Small Claims Courts – which means there is a Small Claims Court in each of the 33 magisterial districts in the province. This is no small achievement, particularly if we remember that we had only 54% coverage here in Mpumalanga in 2009.
Furthermore, we are pleased to say that there no inactive Small Claims Courts and no inactive advisory boards in the Province.
I want to express my sincere gratitude and that of our Department to the 123 Commissioners and the 181 Advisory Board members here in Mpumalanga. We would not have the 100% Small Claims Court coverage in the province if it were not for you. This evening we will have the opportunity to recognise and present the long service certificates and awards. The awards are made in the following categories: 10 to 15 years of service: Blue; 16 to 25 years: Silver and more than 25 years: Gold. We will awarding 27 Blue certificates and 18 Silver certificates this evening.
And I would like to extend a word of appreciation to all our Commissioners and a special mention of the following: Mr AS Botha, Mr SF Liebenberg, Mr WA Cilliers, Mr FM Heinsen, Mr SD Skosana, who all have 20 years’ service. Then also Mr G Kruger and Mr THJ Langeveldt who both have 23 years’ service and Mr EJF Underhay with 24 years’ service. And finally, Mr AL Terblanche, Mr CJ Stander, Mr C Robbertse and Mr C Ferreira who have 25 years’ service.
When one talks about members of our profession who have delivered these services over so many years, who have given their time and expertise, free of charge, to serve those who would not otherwise have access to justice, then one cannot help but be reminded of the famous words of US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor.
In closing I would like to leave her words with you -
“Certainly, life as a lawyer is a bit more complex today than it was a century ago. The ever-increasing pressures of the legal marketplace, the need to bill hours, to market to clients, and to attend to the bottom line, have made fulfilling the responsibilities of community service quite difficult.
But public service marks the difference between a business and a profession.
While a business can afford to focus solely on profits, a profession cannot. It must devote itself first to the community it is responsible to serve.
I can imagine no greater duty than fulfilling this obligation. And I can imagine no greater pleasure.”
I thank you.
