Increasing access to courts

The Department of Justice and Correctional Services leads a number of ongoing projects to increase access to justice services in previously marginalised communities. These projects have seen amongst others the construction of the first high court of Mpumalanga province.

Additional court infrastructure projects have also been prioritised in a number of places; Cape Town and Plettenberg Bay (Western Cape); Booysens (Gauteng); Bityi and Dimbaza (Eastern Cape); Fraserburg (Northern Cape); and Welkom (Free State).

These projects are funded through the Facilities Management subprogramme in the Court Services programme at a total projected cost of R1.5 billion. The construction of additional courts will be supplemented by aligning the districts and jurisdiction of magistrate’s courts with municipal boundaries to ensure that all people have equitable access to justice, wherever they live. Over the MTEF period, the department plans to increase the percentage of victims and witnesses satisfied with support services in lower courts from 50% in 2017/18 to 62%in 2021/22, and maintain conviction rates in high courts at 87 per cent, regional courts at 74% and district courts at 88% from 2019/20 onwards.

Activities related to these targets are to be carried out in the Court Services programme, in which expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent, from R6.4 billion in 2018/19 to R7.8 billion in 2021/22; and the National Prosecuting Authority programme, in which expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 7.1%, from R3.6 billion in 2018/19 to R4.5 billion in 2021/22.

Source: South Africa Yearbook 2018/2019

Share this page