A fire broke out at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court’s third floor at lunch-time today. There were no injuries, all officials and court users were safely evacuated. The cause of the fire is not known yet and the extent of damage caused has yet to be quantified. The court operations will be temporarily suspended until further notice.
The management of the court convened an emergency meeting and the following contingency measures have been put in place:
- That the civil litigation court roll for trials and motion applications has been disrupted and suspended until further notice as the section of the building affected the most by the fire is the one dealing with civil matters
- That criminal cases will be postponed while alternative arrangements are being put into place;
- That in criminal cases where accused persons are in custody at the Pretoria Central Prison, their cases will be postponed from the prison
- That in the first appearance criminal matters, such cases will be handled at the Pretoria Central Police Station
- That all family court matters (maintenance and domestic violence cases) will be diverted to the Visagie Street court where the traffic court used to sit
- That any other matters may be referred to other courts around the city after assessment
- That there will be officials and marshals to assist and direct members of the public who go to the Pretoria Magistrate court for additional information and/or clarification.
The Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe expressed shock at the incident that occurred today. The minister indicated, “We urge our law enforcement agencies to work around the clock in order to get to the bottom of the cause of this fire. Should any foul play be detected, those responsible for this must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I am confident that management of the court concerned will ensure that the situation will be managed in such a way that we are able to minimise the levels of disruption of administration of justice at the court concerned. We plead with members of the community to work with us on the basis of the contingency plan we have put in place while we concentrate on putting measures to restore the court to its normal state of operations.”
Transport will be made available in the vicinity of the Pretoria Magistrate’s court for members of the public whose cases may have been referred to other courts around the city, including those that could be referred to the Attridgeville court.
Enquiries:
Tlali Tlali
Tel: 012 357 8217 or 021 467 1700
Cell: 082 333 3880
Source: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
