The administration of justice in a large part of the North West has been disrupted for a considerable period of time because the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is dragging its feet with repairs and maintenance to the court houses in Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom.
A section of the Potchefstroom court house had to be evacuated in September 2022 after the roof caved in due to a lack of maintenance.
Critical maintenance to the court house in Klerksdorp has also been dragging on since 2016, despite the many promises made by the Departments of Justice and Public Works and Infrastructure.
In Potchefstroom, the city hall of the JB Marks Local Municipality is currently being used as, among other things, a courtroom for hearing criminal cases.
At the court house there are only two usable courtrooms left where civil disputes, criminal cases, child support cases and domestic violence cases can be heard. These facilities are absolutely inadequate.
The situation is causing chaos and a lot of frustration for lawyers and court staff, while the court roll has taken on epic proportions and keeps growing by the day.
Litigants and lawyers have already suffered losses amounting to millions of rand because cases are not being finalised.
With load shedding, which causes even more delays, and the backlogs that were brought on by the Covid-19 restrictions, the situation is now completely out of control.
In addition, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sihle Zikalala, indicated in response to a parliamentary question by the FF Plus, that the repairs to the respective court houses will only be completed by March 2024 (Potchefstroom) and January 2026 (Klerksdorp).
It is absolutely unacceptable.
This is just another example of how a community has to suffer due to the ANC government's incompetence and indifference towards the fate of ordinary South Africans.
South Africa deserves better than the ANC.
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