Question NW851 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
23 April 2024 - NW851
Breytenbach, Adv G to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
What total number of case dockets presented for criminal prosecution from 1 June 2019 to date have (a) not been enrolled (b) been struck off the roll (c) had charges withdrawn (d) prosecution stopped and (e) section 174 applications brought and succeeded due to the (i) inefficiencies of the members of the SA Police Service (SAPS), which includes, but is not limited to dockets not in court, lost or stolen dockets, investigations being incomplete, forensic reports outstanding, accused not brought to court and witnesses not subpoenaed, (ii) mishandling of the case by the members of the SAPS, (iii) contamination of evidence and (iv) incompetence?
Reply:
Case dockets presented for criminal prosecution to the National Prosecuting Authority are screened before enrolment. In accordance with the Directives in Part 4 of the NPA Policy Directives, a case must only be placed on the roll if there is evidence under oath or affirmation that establishes the elements of an offence and links the identified suspect to it. The National Prosecuting Authority does not keep data on reasons for the cases not enrolled, cases withdrawn, struck of the roll, stopping of the prosecution or applications brought in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977. The NPA is therefore not able to provide numbers of the aforementioned linked to the (i) inefficiencies of the members of the SA Police Service (SAPS), which includes, but is not limited to dockets not in court, lost or stolen dockets, investigations being incomplete, forensic reports outstanding, accused not brought to court and witnesses not subpoenaed, (ii) mishandling of the case by the members of the SAPS, (iii) contamination of evidence and (iv) incompetence.
It must be noted that the NPA, at various local fora ensures that dockets are timeously presented to the prosecution before cases are to appear in court, addresses any case dockets that may be lost or stolen, follows up on forensic reports outstanding and addresses any other factors that may impact on the effective and efficient prosecution of any criminal case on the court rolls. When any factor appears to be recurring, it will either be escalated either to the management structures of the SAPS or be discussed with stakeholders at the Local Case Flow Management meetings during ad hoc meetings. Should any of the constraints not be satisfactorily resolved, it will be escalated to the District or Regional Efficiency Enhancement Committee meetings, which are chaired by the Judiciary.
It should be noted that the NPA is committed to deal with all cases in an efficient and effective way and prosecutors do their best to treat each case with proper care and diligence.