Keynote address by the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Hon John Jeffery, MP, at the Free State Services Fair held in Moremoholo Motloung Street, Phuthaditjhaba, Free State
Programme Director,
Chairperson of Free State House of Traditional Leaders
The Mayor of Maluti-a-Phufong Local Municipality
Regional Head of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Representatives from the various government departments
Residents of Phuthaditjhaba
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dumelang, le kae? Good morning and welcome.
A services fair is an event whereby government departments and other stakeholders go to the various communities at local level to provide their services for a day.
We know it is not always easy for communities to know which government department is responsible for what, or when it is national government, provincial government or local government.
So we are here today to bring services closer to this community. You will see that government departments have set up service points – or mobile offices - in order to accelerate service delivery. We are here to also listen to the community and to help solve some of the problems that the community may have. Some of the role-players here today, include:
- Legal Aid South Africa – who assist those who cannot afford to pay for legal services in certain court matters;
- The Department of Social Development;
The Department of Home Affairs – who can, for example, assist the community with ID books; - The South African Social Security Agency – who can help you with social grants;
- The South African Police Services;
- The Office the Public Protector;
- The Department of Education;
- The Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality;
- The Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality;
- The Department of Health;
- The University of the Free State;
- The Foundation for Human Rights (FHR)
The area which we are visiting today is not only a tourist attraction destination, but also makes a big contribution in generating gross agricultural income for the whole of the province and is also highly regarded for its beef production.
But we also know that poverty and unemployment are high. In 2011, the unemployment rate was 41,8%, with the youth unemployment rate at 53%.
This is why it is important to focus on this area and to ensure that the community has better access to services and state institutions.
During the past 5 years, there have been many noteworthy developments:
In 2010 the Office of the Public Protector opened a new regional office in Phuthaditjhaba in a move aimed at bringing the services of the institution closer to communities located in the eastern part of the province.
In 2011 Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality was selected as the best performing municipality with regard to water services in the province. The municipality received two Blue Drop awards for clean drinking water.
The Manapo hospital in Qwa-Qwa has recently been nominated as a pilot site for the National Health Insurance. This will greatly assist in setting standards for other hospitals.
In April this year, the Acting Executive Mayor in collaboration with the Department of Social Development handed over the Sediba Day Care Centre in Tshiame B at Sediba Hall, in Harrismith.
The purpose of the day care centre is to ensure that children’s development and educational needs are prioritized. The day care centre was established in order to be utilized by the community to ensure that the children are cared for adequately.
In May this year, the Maluti-a-Phofung Executive Mayor Cllr Vusimusi Tshabalala embarked on an Imbizo in Thaba-Bosiu, Naledi and Makwane Village in Qwa-Qwa. During the briefing session concerns were raised regarding criminal activities in the area.
We know that crime is a big concern.
When we look at crimes in Phuthaditjhaba and we compare the figures for 2013/14 with 2014/15, it tells us that some crimes have dropped – for example, sexual offences are down by 16,7%, attempted murder is down by 4,8%, common assault is down by 10%, commercial crime is down by 11,1% and stock-theft is down by 19,8%.
On the other hand, murder is up by 4% and total contact crimes (crimes against the person) are up by 9,1%.
With regards to the Free State as a whole, the figures show a steady decline across most crime categories – sexual offences are down by 10,7%, attempted murder is down by 9,9%, common assault down by 10,7%, common robbery down by 4,4%. Murder is marginally up, by 0,1%.
Total contact crimes (crimes against the person) in the Free State are down by 7,9% while the total property related crimes are down by 6,2%.
Just as we are moving towards improved service delivery for our communities, we need to also call on our communities to help us in fighting crime.
Communities and individuals can assist through taking positive action in the fight against crime and encouraging others to do the same.
We must never take the law into our own hands – but we must join hands with the police and other law enforcement role-players.
Responsible communities report crime and criminality.
Let us all ensure that together we are making South Africa a safer and better place to live.
There are 4 Magistrates’ Courts that fall within the Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality – Phuthaditjhaba, Tseseng, Makwane and Tseki.
From January to September this year, 605 civil matters were received and 204 finalised. Some 5258 criminal matters were received and 5032 of these have been finalised.
Legal Aid SA has a Justice Centre in Phuthaditjhaba and it has one Satellite Office in Vrede. For 2014/15 it assisted in, amongst others, 3785 criminal matters, 11 preliminary enquiries and in 396 civil matters.
There is currently also a backlog court at Phuthatditjaba, as a result of high regional court outstanding cases.
I am pleased to note that, at August 2015, at Phuthaditjaba there were 93 new matters, 161 matters had been disposed of, there were 246 current matters, and only 12 backlog cases. This means a current backlog of only 4%.
Many of you may know about our Small Claims Courts – these are courts where one can claim an amount of up to R15 000, and one does not need a lawyer.
Here in the Free State there are 47 established Small Claims Courts. We only need to establish 9 more Small Claims Courts in the province, then we have a functioning Small Claims Court in every of the Free State’s 56 magisterial districts.
In this area, a new Small Claims Court in Tseki was established in January this year and one in Tsheseng at the end of last month.
The area has a lot to offer. We know it is important for agriculture. Not only is it famous for its outstanding nature view and beautiful mountains, but it also offers many tourist attractions. It is important for culture and heritage – with a Basotho cultural village where people can go and learn about the history of the Basotho.
Government, also, has a lot to offer to the people of the area and we are here today to offer these services to the community.
Make use of these services and tell us what we can do to help you.
We have come to listen to you.
Thank you. Ke a leboha.
