Question NW656 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services

Reply:

a). The total number of courts that have alternative energy sources to enable the courts to continue functioning during load shedding is one hundred and thirty nine (139) courts.

b). The total number of courts which are rendered dysfunctional due to load shedding is four hundred and seventeen (417) courts.

Below is a summary table of all the courts per province.

NO.	PROVINCE	FUNCTIONAL COURTS DURING LOADSHEDDING	DYSFUNCTIONAL COURTS DURING LOAD SHEDDING
1	Eastern Cape	25	65
2	Free State	8	79
3	Gauteng	41	19
4	Kwa-Zulu Natal	19	83
5	Limpopo	10	36
6	Mpumalanga	2	41
7	Northern Cape	17	22
8	North West	7	27
9	Western Cape	10	45
	TOTAL	139	417

I wish to inform the Honourable Member that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD), is working very hard to minimize the impact of load-shedding on the functioning of the courts and other service delivery points.

To ensure that disruptions to court activities resulting from load shedding are kept to a minimum, DOJ&CD has registered a project to install eighty (80) generators with Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), at various service points. The project is at different phases of implementation at the Provinces.

All other capital, upgrading and refurbishment projects registered with DPWI include the provision of generators or alternative power supply to ensure that service points are always functional. DOJ&CD has also embarked on a pilot programme to install inverters/ solar power to the service points through the new minor works delegation received from DPWI in October 2022.

I have written to the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and the Minister of Public Enterprise requesting that DOJ&CD service points be red-flagged and not to put the power off during the times in which the courts and other service delivery points, need to function.

Courts with generators will now take part in the transversal contract on the provision of diesel so that courts can operate without disruptions. In addition, DPWI has advised that they are engaging a term-contractor for maintenance of the existing generators. Emergency lights have been procured for cells and all dark areas in the courthouses.

The court personnel continue to serve the public during load-shedding, focusing on administrative processes which can be done manually. These processes are then captured on ICMS, MojaPay and other IT systems once electricity is back.

END