Question NW3473 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
20 October 2015 - NW3473
Breytenbach, Adv G to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
What is the official policy with regard to travel undertaken by regional court presidents (a) domestically and (b) internationally in respect of the (i) number of trips which may be undertaken and (ii)(aa) number and (bb) position and/or status of persons forming part of such delegations; (2) (a) how many (i) domestic and (ii) international trips were undertaken by each regional court president in the past 12 months and (b) what (i) number of persons formed part of the delegation, (ii) was the position and/or status of each person in the delegation and (iii) was the total cost of the trip?
Reply:
1. I wish to inform the Hon Member that the Regulations promulgated in terms of the Magistrates Act, 1993, and the relevant Financial Prescripts, do not prescribe the number of domestic and international trips which may be undertaken by a Regional Court President or any of their support staff or persons forming part of such delegations. Regional Court Presidents will undertake each official journey having regard to the purpose, the costs, availability of transport, route, timespan and other relevant circumstances. Regional Court Presidents travel economy class in terms of the current prescripts.
In terms of domestic travel, Regional Court Presidents, as Judicial Heads of the Regional Courts, will, from time to time, be required to travel to attend to various judicial and other statutory obligations. For example, attending meetings of the Regional Court Presidents Forum, Case Flow Management, the Magistrates Commission and its Committees, the South African Judicial Education Council and its Committees, the Rules Board for Courts of Law and its Committees, the Lower Courts Remuneration Committee, the Interpreters Review Committee, the National Efficiency Enhancement Committee, the National Operations Committee, the Development Committee, the Child Justice Forum, the Lower Courts Monitoring Committee and the Library Committee.
For international trips, the Regional Court President (as well as any other magistrate) must submit the request to the Magistrates Commission for consideration. The application must contain full particulars of the conference/ programme to be attended such as location, duration, costs involved, etc. It should furthermore contain information whether the applicant has attended any conferences outside the country and, if so, dates and details of all such conferences. The Chairperson of the Commission will then submit the application, together with his recommendation to the Chief Justice for consideration and approval.
2. The following domestic and international trips were undertaken by each of the Regional Court Presidents for the period 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015:
|
Regional Court President |
Domestic Trips |
International Trips |
|
Limpopo |
36 |
1* |
|
Eastern Cape |
37 |
0 |
|
Western Cape |
20 |
0 |
|
Kwazulu- Natal |
11 |
0 |
|
Free State |
9 |
0 |
|
Northern Cape |
8 |
0 |
|
Gauteng |
5 |
0 |
|
North West |
4 |
0 |
|
Mpumalanga |
2 |
0 |
In the Eastern Cape the Judge President, the Regional Head and the Regional Court President are located in different cities/towns and it is very often more cost effective to fly from Port Elizabeth to East London for meetings whilst in Limpopo the Regional Court President will most of the time have to take two flights to reach her destination if the meeting is not in Gauteng
*The Regional Court President of Limpopo was invited by the UN Women and UNFPA, in partnership with the UNDP and UNODC, to the Global Technical Consultation on the Police and Justice Sector’s Response to Violence Against Women and Girls in Marrakech form 1 to 4 July 2014. Travel and accommodation were carried by the organizers and the Regional Court President was not supported by any delegation from her office.
2.(a)(iii). The total cost for domestic flights, including accommodation, car rental and transfer fees, amounted to R1,212,129.