Question NW3023 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
13 October 2023 - NW3023
Breytenbach, Adv G to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
In light of the fact that the Masters’ Offices around the country continue to be dysfunctional to a degree that is totally unacceptable, which all have ceased to function, with waiting time for essential documents now reaching months (details furnished), what are the (a) details of what he intends to do to turn the situation around and (b) timeframes thereof?
Reply:
The Master’s Offices deals with not only deceased estates, but also bankruptcy matters, registration of Tests, Curatorships as well as the Guardian’s Fund.
Performance on all of the above is measured against targets set in terms of the Masters’ Annual Performance Plan.
The statement that all the Master’s Offices are dysfunctional and have ceased to function is wide as there are no specifics provided in order for the Master to respond to same.
However, in a bid to improve service delivery, the Master’ Branch together with the ICT Branch, have been developing an Online Deceased Estates Solution to address challenges experienced by our clients when reporting an estate with the Master.
The Online Deceased Estate System seeks to enable South African citizens to submit their deceased estate applications online, giving the user the ability to register an estate from the comfort of their home or office without the need physically to visit any Master’s Office or Service Point of the Master. This system was already successfully piloted in 3 Master’s Offices (Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town) and it is envisaged that it will be launched into live production during October 2023 in five Master’s Offices (Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Thohoyandou).
Together with this Online System, a QR-coded appointment letter has been developed. This appointment letter is being sent electronically to the applicant instantly, upon approval of the appointment by the Assistant Master. The client then merely downloads the appointment letter, which can now be verified by scanning the QR-code, and then proceed with the administration of the estate. This alleviates the challenges experienced with collecting of original appointment letters at the Master’s Office, delays caused by postal services not being available, relevant institutions causing delays due to first awaiting verifications of appointments letters from the Master and the need for requesting copies from the Master in this regard. QR-coded appointment letters have already been implemented with great success in three Master’s Offices (Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town) and the rest of the country is to follow suit as soon as possible.
Though the Master’s Offices are hard hit by challenges such as loadshedding, struggling to obtain files from off-site facilities, understaffing, budget cuts and constant network challenges, we are forever striving to implement solutions to better service delivery and ease the frustrations of not only the citizens, but also the employees of the Branch, who are working in a challenging environment.