Questions and Replies

Reply:

In terms of our law, there is no specific crime called gender-based violence. As a result, a need for the determination of a category of crimes that constitute gender-based violence has been identified. The Department has therefore established a Task Team constituted by the judiciary, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the civil society organisations to define a category of GBVF- related crimes, which will encapsulate the relevant statutory and common law offences. The ultimate goal is to have an integrated repository of all GBVF-related crimes on the Integrated Justice System Transversal Hub where the criminal justice actors can have an agile communication and sharing of data. The work of this Task Team is expected to be finalised before the end of this financial year.

In the meantime, the Department collects data of all criminal cases, including GBVF-related criminal cases, registered by the lower courts in the Integrated Case Management System (ICMS). As soon as a category of GBVF-related crimes is determined by the Task Team, the Department will enhance the existing repository to provide disaggregated data of GBVF-related criminal cases registered and managed by our lower courts.

Against this backdrop, this reply will therefore focus on sexual offences, domestic violence criminal offences and femicide cases registered by our courts.

Sexual Offences

a) With regard to sexual offences matters, since 1 January 2022 our lower courts registered a pending caseload of 16 781 sexual offences cases of which 6 026 were backlog cases. What this means is that 39.5% of the pending cases of sexual offences were backlog cases.

b) The NPA has reported that during the period 1 January 2022 to 31 July 2022, a total of 1 994 convictions were obtained from 2 673 cases of sexual offences finalised with a verdict. These convictions amounted to a 74.6% conviction rate.

As reported by the NPA, many of the pending cases of sexual offences are due to the delayed submission of DNA reports by SAPS to the NPA. In the previous financial year, the Deputy Ministers for Justice and Constitutional Development and Police set up a Task Team with representations from DoJ&CD, SAPS and NPA to address challenges relating to the DNA backlog reports. I have been informed that this collaborative continues to yield the expected outputs. As at 31 March 2022, SAPS finalised 7 618 DNA reports which increased the number of trial-ready cases of sexual offences managed by NPA.

Domestic Violence Criminal Cases

a) With regard to criminal cases of domestic violence, since 1 January 2022 our district courts registered a volume of 3 856 domestic violence criminal cases of which 348 cases were backlog cases.

b) From 1 January 2022 up to 31 July 2022, 1 762 of the 3 856 domestic violence cases were finalised with a verdict.

Femicide (Murder) Cases

a) In our law there is no specific crime called ‘femicide’, but the NPA captures statistics on both femicide and Intimate Partner Femicide cases. However, no record of backlog cases in femicide cases is kept as all cases of this nature are registered as murder cases.

b) During the period 1 January 2022 and 31 July 2022, the number of femicide cases finalised with a verdict was 284 of which 271 resulted in convictions. The conviction rate in the femicide cases amounted to 95.4%.

During the same period, a total of 221 verdicts were handed down in cases relating to Intimate Partner Femicide. From these 221 verdicts, a total of 206 convictions were obtained, thus registering a conviction rate of 93.2%.

It must however be noted that the core drivers for case backlogs are contributed by the different actors in the criminal justice system. Blockages to the speedy finalisation of cases can also be traced from the diverse value service points that feed into the court system. For this reason, the Department cannot resolve all challenges of case backlogs alone. The Department, with the support of the ministry, is therefore in the process of establishing the National Integrated Criminal Court Optimisation Steering Committee (NICCO SteerCo), which will draw representation from the judiciary and other key stakeholders in the criminal justice system. The aim of this collaborative is to collectively identify and remove stoppers that delay the realisation of a criminal justice system that quick, responsive and effective.

The Department has also developed a Criminal Case Backlog Action Plan, which gives priority to cases relating to gender-based violence and femicide. The implementation of this Plan is coordinated, facilitated and monitored by the Criminal Case Backlogs Committee which meets every month.

The Department has further included an indicator in the Annual Performance Plan which seeks to monitor the reasons for postponements which occur as a consequence of inadequacies in the support provided by the Department, e.g. postponements due to administrative staff, water shortages, power cuts, etc.

END

Reply:

It must be noted that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Sexual Offenses and Community Affairs (SOCA) Unit participated in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) feedback country report session on 5 November 2021 on a virtual platform. Comprehensive inputs were submitted to the NPA at the session.

As reflected at the session, the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the performance of courts due to the unavailability of officials and witnesses because of various reasons related to the different levels of lockdown.

Irrespective of the aforementioned, a number of interventions and measures were implemented by the NPA as follows:

1. The Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs) have expanded from only focusing on services to victims of sexual offences to welcoming victims of gender-based violence, more particularly, domestic violence. Staff have been adequately sensitised and no victim of gender-based violence is turned away. The TCCs have become a supportive environment for women to report incidents of domestic violence. At one of our centres in Worcester, Western Cape, a domestic violence protocol has been put in place to increase the identification of domestic violence victims who enter the health facility, increase the number of victims able to access victim support services through referral to the TCC (including referral to a shelter) as well as empower the victim for their protection, i.e. by assisting them in applying for the protection order and facilitating the issuing of the order in court. The NPA, with the Department of Health, plans to roll out the domestic violence protocol to all its TCCs and the relevant hospitals. The Domestic Violence protocol when implemented nationally, will ensure a focused attempt to identify all domestic violence victims as they enter the trauma section of the hospital and through an immediate victim-centric approach reduce the chances of further harm. This approach will ensure the de-stigmatisation of the victim, dismantle commonly held victim-blaming beliefs, reduce judicial bias and gender stereotypes, and protect women complainants from retaliation by perpetrators.

Currently, there are sixty-one (61) TCC sites nationally, providing services to victims and the NPA is planning to roll-out an additional 9 sites towards March 2024.

a) The NPA has also embarked on an efficacy review of all the TCC sites to ensure that the standards of service offered at the sites are consistent. Where certain services are lacking, steps have been taken to address this. The efficacy review includes a focus on enhancing the accessibility to services for disabled victims.

b) The NPA has, with reference to the latest list of thirty (30) gender-based violence (GBV) hotspots, analysed such list and can confirm that all of these sites are covered by providing services from the TCCs to victims, excluding Diepsloot, but interventions are ongoing to address the position.

c) The number of matters reported at the TCCs during this financial year, increased by 16.4% overall from the previous financial year (2020/21). This reflects a total number of 34 456 matters reported, which is an increase of 4862 matters from the previous financial year. 

d) For the past five (5) years, the current TCC sites delivered services to 168 049 victims at the sites, whilst 88% of these matters on average were specifically on sexual offences. Furthermore, 57% of these matters are specifically with children as victims.    

e) Regarding TCC reported matters that were prosecuted, an average conviction rate of 76.7% for this financial year was achieved. This is 6.7% above the NPA Annual Performance Plan (APP) target. It is also the 7th year that we have consecutively achieved a conviction rate of above 70%. The current conviction rate reflects 1 033 convictions from the 1 346 verdict cases finalised. In the said financial year, the number of matters finalised with a verdict increased from 993 in the previous financial to 1 346, hence an improvement of 35.5%. The current TCC conviction percentage is also 2.9% above that of the national conviction rate for all sexual offences which stood at 73.8%. Furthermore, when placed in perspective, for the 2011/12 financial year the conviction rate for TCC cases was 60.7%, therefore a considerable improvement of 16% over a period of 10 years regarding the conviction rate of TCC-reported cases as compared with the said financial year of 2011/12.

f) The table below provides a breakdown of all sexual offence cases nationally prosecuted (including the TCC cases) and finalised with a verdict for the past nine years:              

Financial years	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/2020	2020/2021	2021/2022
Conviction %	69%	70.1%	71.7%	72.7%	74.4%	75.2%	75.8%	73.8%
Actual convictions	5 084	4 978	4 780	5 004	4 724	4 098	2 539	3 161
Finalized cases	7 372	7 098	6 669	6 879	6 353	5 451	3 349	4 285

           

g) In evaluating the prosecution of sexual offences, it is to be noted, that for the seventh consecutive year a national conviction rate of above 70% was achieved (both in relation to all sexual offence prosecutions and in relation to the TCC-reported cases).

h) The management and prosecution of GBV matters is a priority focus in all DPP divisions, which is aligned to the NSP on GBVF and most importantly the NPS BU APP. It is also a standing priority item at all provincial and national stakeholder related meetings and forums. This is to ensure a collective and standardised approach in response mechanisms as the CJS towards GBVF.

i) In relation to sentences imposed by the courts for TCC verdict cases during the 2021/22 financial year, the following is to be noted:

• Life imprisonment sentences: 201 (an increase of 60 (42.5%) versus the previous financial year).
• 20-25 years imprisonment sentences: 106 (an increase of 21 (24.7%) versus the previous financial year).
• 10-19 years imprisonment sentences: 378 (an increase of 83 (28.1%) versus the previous financial year).
• Furthermore, it confirms that the courts are generally imposing more severe sentences specifically on rape offences regarding TCC verdict cases, in comparison with the financial years prior to the NSP on GBVF (2018).  
• In addition, it reflects that the courts specifically imposed life imprisonment sentences in 19.5% of the 1 033 verdict cases. It also indicates that the courts imposed long-term sentences (including life imprisonment) in 66.3% of the verdict cases.   

2. In line with Pillar 3, the NPA, to give effect to a victim-centric approach has ensured through its Ke Bona Lesedi Court Preparation Component that victims are adequately informed of their rights and that the judicial process is understood. This component is responsible for specialised prosecutor-guided court preparation for state witnesses provided by court preparation officers. They also ensure the provision of victim impact statements and the provision of specialised training across the CJS. The use of court preparation officers by the NPA to prepare witnesses for the court is an initiative aimed at empowering witnesses and victims and reducing secondary trauma. In the 2021/2022 reporting period, 97 176 witnesses were assisted by the court preparation officers. Of these 46 805 (48.2%) witnesses are specifically in relation to sexual offence matters.

3. NPA SOCA Unit, facilitated or participated in several public awareness and community projects/campaigns on gender-based violence, human trafficking and relevant legislation by the TCC personnel and SOCA provincial officials nationally in line with the “365 National Action Plan of no violence against women and children”. The TCC participation in campaigns focussed inter alia on the following topics:

• the essence of gender-based violence and early disclosure/reporting of sexual and or physical abuse offences;
• TCC services and the model;
• the influence of drugs and alcohol at schools (substance abuse);
• child pornography and related cybercrime;
• LGBQTI-cases;
• the importance of forensic medical examinations and post-trauma consequences of GBV;
• Ukuthwala-practises;
• the existence of sexual harassment and what it entails;
• the presence and occurrence of bullying at schools and the possible subsequent consequences thereof on the victims; and
• the manifestation of human trafficking specifically for sexual exploitation of victims (children) and also child labour, etc.

NPA officials also participated in several dialogue sessions specifically at schools, community events or community radio stations and NSP webinars on related topics. It must be noted that comprehensive reports from the various cluster or provincial managers are available detailing the content and extent of the various campaigns delivered or participated in by SOCA officials.

4. In relation to training for prosecutors and related stakeholders, the SOCA Unit developed, reviewed, and amended the relevant training material regarding our GBV mandate and facilitated seventy (70) training sessions nationally in the past 2021/22 financial year.

5. The NPA SOCA Unit commenced in a collaboration with SAPS FSL, a process to speed up the finalisation of DNA analysis reports urgently required at courts re GBV cases. The delay in the submission of these reports by FSL had a negative impact on the backlog of sexual offence cases. Such process was initiated in October 2020 to address the backlog of specifically sexual offence cases at courts due to the outstanding DNA reports from FSL. This resulted in the submission of 14 022 FSL reports (as at August 2022) received and submitted to the DPPs. This is a considerable increase in the number of reports received from the end of March 2021, when the number was only 444 reports. In addition, the SOCA Unit with the assistance of the NPA Research Unit, identified a number of 1 016 potential serial rapist reports as from October 2021. Some of these reports reflect the modus operandi of potential serial rapists whose activities straddle different divisions which then might require centralisation of cases (in line with the CPA) by the respective DPP divisions. This initiative resulted in a decrease in the backlog of long outstanding sexual offence cases at court. It is evident that our joint intervention between NPA and SAPS, regarding the prioritization of these DNA reports is indeed successful and will henceforth continue accordingly.

6 In relation to the Community Prosecution Initiative implemented by the NPA, designated community prosecutors monitor the progress and implementation of the Community Prosecution Initiatives at identified sites nationally. Currently, there are twenty-three (23) initiatives, thirteen (13) of which focus specifically on GBV and one (1) initiative on Assault and Domestic Violence. The aforementioned community prosecutors continuously facilitate several public awareness campaigns on related topics and various platforms, including radio and local newspapers, and/or delivered training sessions to relevant stakeholders on the Community Prosecution Initiative. Building stakeholder relations with relevant community partners are essential in this process, to collectively identify challenges and implementable solutions. The impact hereof will also be reported in the next annual report.

7. Following the enactment of the three (3) GBV pieces of legislation, SOCA established GBV Legislation Task Teams responsible for the execution of these Acts, by means of:

• Amendment of current charge sheet annexures/ drafting of new charge sheet annexures;
• Amendment of relevant NPA Policy Directives; and
• Amendment of all training material utilised by SOCA in the facilitation of training sessions. currently putting teams together, to review the relevant NPA Prosecution Policies which are affected by the signing into law of the three (3) GBV pieces of legislation.

Reply:

(a) (i) A Department and Ministry incur expenditure in connection with the activities of a department or division within a department that directly relates to the achievement of its objectives. The employer shall meet reasonable actual accommodation costs when official perform their duties.

(ii) aa), (bb) (cc) (b) The R293 million spent over the past three (3) years on catering, entertainment and accommodation is a consolidation of different accounting transactions. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development uses the basic accounting system which does not have the capability to provide detailed transactions as required. The manual supporting documents are kept manually and audited by the Auditor-General on an annual basis.

Reply:

The Department has not implemented the referral of to the credit bureaus of default orders as the Maintenance Amendment Act, 2015 (Act No. 9 of 2015). There is a gap in the current legislation which prevents the implementation of section 11 of Act No. 9 of 2015 as it does not create a correlative responsibility for the credit bureaus to receive the default orders from the Maintenance Clerks and Maintenance Officers. Although the Department developed an internal circular to guide the officials on how to deal with the forwarding of the default orders, this circular has not been implemented pending the legislative amendment of the provision of the Act which will include the correlative responsibility for the credit bureaus to receive and use this information against the defaulters’ credit rating. The Department is currently monitoring defaulters through keeping of a Database of Defaulters pending the amendment of the Act No. 9 of 2015.

The Department acknowledges the need for the speedy amendment of section 26 (2A) of the Act. In view of this gap, the Department has requested the Legislative Development Branch to include the amendment of the Act to create this corresponding obligation to enable the Credit Bureaus to receive the orders and act accordingly. An amendment will be made through the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill to be introduced in Parliament later on during the year.

Reply:

1. Yes, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) is able to provide maintenance statistics for each court and province for the period 2020-2021 financial year. The statistics below indicate the total number of applications made in respect of Civil Applications as indicated in Figure 1 below and Criminal Applications as indicated in Figure 2. A total number of 77 778 Civil Applications and 4 169 Criminal Applications were lodged during the 2020/2021 financial year

Figure 1: Maintenance Civil Application for the 2020/2021 financial year

Eastern Cape	Free State	Gauteng
Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications
Aberdeen	15	Bethlehem	378	Alexandra	423
Adelaide	10	Bethulie	25	Atteridgeville	444
Alexandria	59	Bloemfontein	1169	Benoni	303
Alice	60	Boshof	15	Boksburg	622
Aliwal North	173	Bothaville	53	Booysens	231
Barkly East	32	Botshabelo	461	Brakpan	159
Bedford	27	Brandfort	36	Bronkhorstspruit	198
Bizana	125	Bultfontein	92	Cullinan	87
Burgersdorp	46	Clocolan	54	Daveyton	448
Butterworth	204	Dealesville	21	Ekangala	88
Cala	34	Dewetsdorp	35	Fochville	262
Cathcart	13	Edenburg	11	Germiston	345
Centane	39	Edenville	20	Heidelberg	127
Cofimvaba	70	Excelsior	52	Johannesburg	885
Cradock	159	Fauresmith	38	Kagiso	334
Dordrecht	10	Ficksburg	91	Kempton Park	264
Dutywa	136	Fouriesburg	47	Krugersdorp	136
East London	629	Frankfort	123	Kwa Thema	169
Elliot	30	Harrismith	117	Lenasia	12
Elliotdale	64	Heilbron	128	Mamelodi	311
Ezibeleni	69	Hennenman	85	Meadowlands	16
Flagstaff	122	Hertzogville	37	Meyerton	172
Fort Beaufort	71	Hobhouse	12	Nigel	167
Gelvandale	125	Hoopstad	54	Oberholzer	324
Graaff-Reinet	90	Jacobsdal	66	Palm Ridge	949
Grahamstown	174	Jagersfontein	37	Pretoria	1219
Hankey	106	Kestell	24	Pretoria North	354
Humansdorp	263	Koffiefontein	60	Randburg	379
Indwe	7	Koppies	60	Randfontein	361
Jamestown	14	Kroonstad	394	Roodepoort	485
Jansenville	29	Ladybrand	73	Sebokeng	447
Joubertina	47	Lindley	73	Soshanguve	464
Keiskammahoek	31	Makwane	152	Soweto	943
King Williams Town	53	Marquard	60	Springs	169
Kirkwood	97	Memel	12	Tembisa	1179
Kwa Nobuhle	224	Odendaalsrus	242	Tsakane	204
Lady Frere	67	Parys	131	Vanderbijlpark	343
Lady Grey	23	Paul Roux	42	Vereeniging	167
Libode	84	Petrus Steyn	89	Westonaria	190
Lusikisiki	138	Petrusburg	42	-	-
Maclear	69	Philippolis	6	-	-
Maluti	162	Phuthaditjhaba	224	-	-
Mdantsane	405	Reddersburg	10	-	-
Middelburg	65	Reitz	130	-	-
Middledrift	59	Rouxville	22	-	-
Molteno	11	Sasolburg	290	-	-
Motherwell	716	Selosesha	350	-	-
Mount Ayliff	44	Senekal	94	-	-
Mount Fletcher	60	Smithfield	30	-	-
Mount Frere	71	Springfontein	14	-	-
Mqanduli	136	Steynsrus	43	-	-
Mthatha	417	Theunissen	69	-	-
New Brighton	697	Trompsburg	26	-	-
Ngcobo	125	Tseki	106	-	-
Ngqamakhwe	64	Tsheseng	49	-	-
Ngqeleni	182	Ventersburg	52	-	-
Pearston	1	Viljoenskroon	117	-	-
Peddie	54	Villiers	62	-	-
Port Alfred	1	Virginia	205	-	-
Port Elizabeth	805	Vrede	83	-	-
Port St Johns	72	Vredefort	44	-	-
Queenstown	187	Warden	31	-	-
Qumbu	66	Welkom	598	-	-
Seymour	1	Wepener	46	-	-
Somerset East	82	Wesselsbron	71	-	-
Sterkspruit	217	Winburg	51	-	-
Sterkstroom	13	Zastron	85	-	-
Steytlerville	6	-	-	-	-
Stutterheim	55	-	-	-	-
Tabankulu	61	-	-	-	-
Tarkastad	27	-	-	-	-
Tsomo	9	-	-	-	-
Uitenhage	177	-	-	-	-
Venterstad	30	-	-	-	-
Whittlesea	66	-	-	-	-
Willowmore	33	-	-	-	-
Willowvale	48	-	-	-	-
Zwelitsha	257	-	-	-	-
Sub-Total	9 320	Sub-Total	7 619	Sub-Total	14 380

Kwa-Zulu Natal	Limpopo	Mpumalanga
Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications
Babanango	8	Bela - Bela	129	Acornhoek	3
Bergville	38	Dzanani	273	Amersfoort	61
Camperdown	167	Ga-Kgapane	677	Amsterdam	37
Chatsworth	217	Giyani	632	Balfour	73
Colenso	3	Groblersdal	361	Barberton	136
Dannhauser	59	Lebowakgomo	486	Bethal	104
Dududu	39	Lenyenye	396	Breyten	56
Dukuza	20	Lephalale	179	Bushbuckridge	98
Dundee	67	Louis Trichardt	59	Carolina	71
Durban	384	Lulekani	139	Delmas	101
Ekuvukeni	22	Mahwelereng	467	Eerstehoek	138
Emlazi	518	Malamulele	428	Emakhazeni	54
Empangeni	148	Mankweng	507	Emalahleni	634
Eshowe	53	Modimolle	201	Emgwenya	26
Esikhawini	198	Mokopane	140	Ermelo	195
Estcourt	179	Mookgophong	90	Evander	338
Ezakheni	122	Morebeng	176	Graskop	40
Glencoe	36	Moutse	91	Hendrina	67
Greytown	48	Musina	244	Kabokweni	295
Harding	77	Mutale	152	Komatiepoort	14
Himeville	19	Namakgale	295	Kriel	147
Hlabisa	54	Nebo	323	Kwamhlanga	413
Hlanganani	72	Nkowankowa	431	Mashishing	139
Howick	149	Northam	168	Mbibana	134
Impendle	51	Phalaborwa	32	Mbombela	98
Ingwavuma	28	Phalala	219	Mdutjana	424
Inkanyezi	101	Polokwane	318	Middelburg	439
Ixopo	119	Praktiseer	676	Mkhuhlu	187
Izingolweni	43	Sekhukhune	475	Mkobola	205
Kokstad	54	Senwabarwana	293	Morgenzon	39
Kranskop	17	Seshego	617	Piet Retief	97
Kwadukuza	126	Thabazimbi	149	Sabie	54
Kwamsane	37	Thohoyandou	645	Secunda	63
Kwangwanase	56	Tiyani	207	Standerton	234
Ladysmith	93	Tshilwavhusiku	199	Thulamahashe	185
Louwsburg	3	Tshitale	101	Tonga	194
Madadeni	258	Tzaneen	57	Volksrust	53
Magudu	7	Vuwani	215	Wakkerstroom	9
Mahlabatini	69	Waterval	306	White River	15
Maphumulo	46	-	-	-	-
Matatiele	20	-	-	-	-
Melmoth	43	-	-	-	-
Mooi River	24	-	-	-	-
Mpumalanga	127	-	-	-	-
Msinga	51	-	-	-	-
Mtubatuba	131	-	-	-	-
Mtunzini	58	-	-	-	-
Ncotshane	110	-	-	-	-
Ndwedwe	50	-	-	-	-
New Hanover	87	-	-	-	-
Newcastle	62	-	-	-	-
Ngwelezane	127	-	-	-	-
Nkandla	35	-	-	-	-
Nongoma	142	-	-	-	-
Nqutu	126	-	-	-	-
Ntuzuma	463	-	-	-	-
Paulpietersburg	41	-	-	-	-
Phungashe	19	-	-	-	-
Pietermaritzburg	410	-	-	-	-
Pinetown	619	-	-	-	-
Point Branch Court	165	-	-	-	-
Pongola	2	-	-	-	-
Port Shepstone	195	-	-	-	-
Richmond	22	-	-	-	-
Scottburgh	172	-	-	-	-
Turton	51	-	-	-	-
Ubombo	90	-	-	-	-
Umbumbulu	267	-	-	-	-
Umzimkulu	95	-	-	-	-
Utrecht	26	-	-	-	-
Verulam	354	-	-	-	-
Vryheid	86	-	-	-	-
Weenen	12	-	-	-	-
Sub-total	8 087	Sub-total	11 553	Sub-total	5 670

North West	Northern Cape	Western Cape
Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications
Atamelang	65	Barkly West	162	Albertinia	18
Bloemhof	105	Britstown	26	Athlone	451
Brits	471	Calvinia	72	Atlantis	315
Christiana	76	Carnarvon	22	Beaufort West	179
Coligny	71	Colesberg	95	Bellville	635
Delareyville	104	De Aar	154	Bishop Lavis	667
Ditsobotla	151	Douglas	130	Bluedowns	498
Ganyesa	87	Fraserburg	19	Bonnievale	82
Ga-Rankuwa	707	Galeshewe	294	Bredasdorp	89
Groot Marico	15	Garies	14	Caledon	268
Kgomotso	70	Griquatown	20	Calitzdorp	52
Klerksdorp	450	Groblershoop	40	Cape Town	367
Koster	72	Hanover	20	Ceres	197
Lehurutshe	91	Hartswater	61	Clanwilliam	197
Lichtenburg	153	Hopetown	71	George	344
Madikwe	116	Jan Kempdorp	78	Goodwood	2
Mmabatho	476	Kakamas	84	Grabouw	24
Mogwase	382	Kathu	138	Heidelberg	14
Orkney	222	Keimoes	61	Hermanus	134
Ottosdal	36	Kenhardt	7	Hopefield	47
Phokeng	377	Kimberley	427	Khayelitsha	865
Potchefstroom	373	Kuruman	106	Knysna	176
Rustenburg	337	Mothibistad	234	Kuils River	379
Schweizer-Reneke	119	Noupoort	36	Laaiplek	17
Stilfontein	125	Olifantshoek	35	Ladismith	54
Swartruggens	36	Pampierstad	65	Laingsburg	14
Taung	143	Philipstown	73	Malmesbury	152
Temba	623	Pofadder	32	Mitchells Plain	529
Ventersdorp	117	Port Nolloth	9	Montagu	104
Vryburg	129	Postmasburg	194	Moorreesburg	49
Wolmaransstad	127	Prieska	83	Mossel Bay	56
Zeerust	63	Richmond	27	Murraysburg	38
-	-	Springbok	116	Nyanga	433
-	-	Sutherland	19	Oudtshoorn	309
-	-	Upington	261	Paarl	413
-	-	Victoria West	63	Piketberg	90
-	-	Warrenton	122	Porterville	42
-	-	Williston	8	Prince Albert	47
-	-	-	-	Riversdale	79
-	-	-	-	Robertson	189
-	-	-	-	Simons Town	251
-	-	-	-	Somerset West	162
-	-	-	-	Stellenbosch	125
-	-	-	-	Strand	165
-	-	-	-	Swellendam	149
-	-	-	-	Thembalethu	104
-	-	-	-	Tulbagh	45
-	-	-	-	Vanrhynsdorp	101
-	-	-	-	Vredenburg	50
-	-	-	-	Vredendal	87
-	-	-	-	Wellington	61
-	-	-	-	Wolseley	17
-	-	-	-	Worcester	696
-	-	-	-	Wynberg	554
Sub-Total	6 489	Sub-Total	3 478	Sub-Total	11 182
GRAND-TOTAL (CIVIL APPLICATIONS)	77 778

Figure 2: Number of Criminal Applications for the 2020/2021 Financial Year

Eastern Cape	Free State	Gauteng
Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications
Aberdeen	11	Bethulie	0	Atteridgeville	35
Adelaide	10	Bloemfontein	0	Benoni	1
Aliwal North	1	Bothaville	0	Brakpan	11
Bedford	2	Botshabelo	0	Bronkhorstspruit	0
Bizana	1	Brandfort	0	Cullinan	0
Butterworth	1	Bultfontein	72	Daveyton	0
Centane	5	Clocolan	2	Ekangala	0
Centane	0	Dewetsdorp	21	Fochville	0
Cradock	2	Edenburg	1	Germiston	0
Dutywa	11	Edenville MC	0	Heidelberg	0
East London	0	Excelsior	0	Kempton Park	2
Elliot	8	Fauresmith	2	Kwa Thema	34
Elliotdale	3	Ficksburg	8	Meyerton	4
Ezibeleni	4	Frankfort	5	Nigel	4
Flagstaff	4	Harrismith	16	Oberholzer	2
Grahamstown	0	Heilbron	2	Pretoria	87
Hankey	31	Hertzogville	4	Pretoria North	16
Humansdorp	139	Hobhouse	4	Randfontein	1
Jansenville	7	Hoopstad	36	Roodepoort	13
Keiskammahoek	2	Jacobsdal	28	Soshanguve	14
King Williams Town	2	Koffiefontein	26	Springs	12
Kirkwood	2	Kroonstad	0	Tsakane	0
Maclear	17	Ladybrand	0	Vanderbijlpark	26
Maluti	0	Lindley	2	Vereeniging	0
Mdantsane	0	Makwane	15	Wynberg	0
Middelburg	1	Memel	2	-	-
Motherwell	1	Odendaalsrus	11	-	-
Mount Ayliff	0	Petrus Steyn	1	-	-
Mount Fletcher	0	Petrusburg	11	-	-
New Brighton	380	Philippolis	10	-	-
Ngcobo	0	Phuthaditjhaba	3	-	-
Pearston	5	Reddersburg	8	-	-
Peddie	0	Reitz	12	-	-
Port Elizabeth	109	Rouxville	13	-	-
Queenstown	67	Sasolburg	63	-	-
Somerset East	0	Senekal	6	-	-
Sterkstroom	2	Smithfield	9	-	-
Steytlerville	10	Springfontein	2	-	-
Tabankulu	0	Steynsrus	0	-	-
Tarkastad	6	Theunissen	9	-	-
Uitenhage	25	Trompsburg	14	-	-
Whittlesea	1	Tsheseng	15	-	-
Willowmore	1	Ventersburg	2	-	-
Zwelitsha	24	Villiers	11	-	-
-	-	Virginia	70	-	-
-	-	Vrede	16	-	-
-	-	Welkom	195	-	-
-	-	Wepener	7	-	-
-	-	Winburg	13	-	-
-	-	Zastron	38	-	-
Sub-Total: 895	Sub-Total: 785	Sub-Total: 262

Kwa-Zulu Natal	Limpopo	Mpumalanga
Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications
Chatsworth	0	Bela - Bela	9	Amersfoort	8
Colenso	3	Dzanani	55	Barberton	0
Ekuvukeni	0	Ga-Kgapane	13	Bethal	0
Emlazi	0	Groblersdal	0	Breyten	0
Eshowe	0	Lebowakgomo (Thabamoopo)	2	Delmas	0
Estcourt	3	Lenyenye	27	Eerstehoek	2
Ezakheni	2	Lephalale	0	Ermelo	3
Ezakheni	0	Louis Trichardt	4	Evander	4
Greytown	0	Lulekani	1	Graskop	4
Harding	6	Mahwelereng	0	Mashishing	0
Himeville	0	Malamulele	30	Mbibana (Vaalbank)	0
Hlabisa	0	Mankweng	25	Mbombela (Nelspruit)	0
Hlanganani	1	Modimolle	8	Mhala / Thulamahashe	0
Howick	7	Mokopane	9	Middelburg	2
Inkanyezi Nyoni Madadeni	0	Mookgophong	30	Middelburg	1
Mooi River	3	Morobeng (Sekgosese)	2	Mkobola	5
Mtunzini	0	Moutse	1	Morgenzon	13
Ncotshane	0	Musina	0	Sabie	0
Newcastle	2	Namakgale	36	Secunda	1
Ntuzuma	0	Nebo	2	Standerton	3
Paulpietersburg	1	Nkowankowa	7	Volksrust	4
Pietermaritzburg	0	Phalaborwa	8	Wakkerstroom	2
Pinetown	2	Phalala	1	White River	4
Port Shepstone	0	Polokwane	0	-	-
Scottburgh	0	Praktiseer	5	-	-
Umzimkulu	0	Sekhukhune	0	-	-
Utrecht	0	Senwabarwana	60	-	-
Vryheid	1	Seshego	12	-	-
Weenen	0	Thabazimbi	17	-	-
-	-	Thohoyandou	0	-	-
-	-	Tiyani	25	-	-
-	-	Tshilwavhusiku	22	-	-
-	-	Tshilwavhusiku	0	-	-
-	-	Tshitale	40	-	-
-	-	Vuwani	27	-	-
-	-	Waterval	60	-	-
Sub-Total: 31	Sub-Total: 538	Sub-Total: 56

North West	Northern Cape	Western Cape
Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications	Court	Number of Applications
Atamelang	2	Barkly West	0	Albertinia	11
Bloemhof	0	Britstown	6	Athlone	27
Brits	11	Calvinia	4	Atlantis	4
Coligny	1	Carnarvon	10	Beaufort West	39
Ditsobotla	1	Colesberg	0	Bellville	13
Ga-Rankuwa	0	De Aar	19	Bishop Lavis	72
Klerksdorp	0	Douglas	17	Bluedowns	20
Lichtenburg	1	Fraserburg	0	Bonnievale	5
Madikwe	1	Galeshewe	16	Bredasdorp	1
Mmabatho	3	Griquatown	10	Calitzdorp	13
Ottosdal	0	Groblershoop	0	Cape Town	11
Potchefstroom	32	Kakamas	49	Ceres	0
Rustenburg	1	Kathu	2	Clanwilliam	1
Schweizer-reneke	5	Keimoes	7	George	2
Swartruggens	1	Kenhardt	4	Heidelberg	0
Temba	3	Kuruman	7	Heidelberg	1
Ventersdorp	1	Mothibistad	0	Hopefield	32
Vryburg	0	Pampierstad	0	Khayelitsha	8
Wolmaransstad	2	Philipstown	23	Kuils River	30
-	-	Pofadder	21	Ladismith	0
-	-	Hanover	0	Ladismith	2
-	-	Hartswater	4	Laingsburg	2
-	-	Hopetown	7	Malmesbury	39
-	-	Jan Kempsdorp	9	Mitchells Plain	35
-	-	Port Nolloth	2	Montagu	1
-	-	Postmasburg	24	Moorreesburg	9
-	-	Prieska	8	Mossel Bay	8
-	-	Sutherland	0	Nyanga	46
-	-	Upington	144	Oudtshoorn	66
-	-	Warrenton	14	Paarl	121
-	-	Williston	9	Piketberg	22
-	-	-	-	Porterville	31
-	-		-	Prince Albert	4
-	-	-	-	Riversdale	75
-	-	-	-	Robertson	9
-	-	-	-	Simon's Town	0
-	-	-	-	Somerset West	8
-	-	-	-	Stellenbosch	8
-	-	-	-	Strand	1
-	-	-	-	Swellendam	86
-	-	-	-	Thembalethu	0
-	-	-	-	Tulbagh	3
-	-	-	-	Uniondale	0
-	-	-	-	Wellington	1
-	-	-	-	Wolseley	4
-	-	-	-	Worcester	40
-	-	-	-	Wynberg	210
Sub-Total: 65	Sub-Total: 416	Sub-Total: 1 121
Grand Total: 4 169

2. The DoJ&CD has not implemented the Act as a result of a gap in the enabling provision. Whereas the Department initially developed guidelines to initiate the process to implement section 26(2A) of the Maintenance Act, 1998 (Act No. 99 of 1998) (the Act), it was realised that there is no provision creating a corresponding obligation for the Credit Bureaus to receive and use the information as provided for in the Act.

In view of this gap, the Department has requested the Legislative Development Branch to include the amendment of the Act to create this corresponding obligation to enable the Credit Bureaus to receive the orders and act accordingly. An amendment will be made through the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill to be introduced in Parliament later on during the year.

The “Blacklisting” provision of the Act, section 26(2A) cannot be implemented as it stands, and therefore the Department cannot provide statistics on the number of defaulters who have been blacklisted.

3. The DoJ&CD is unable to provide the breakdown figures of the blacklisted persons in each maintenance court and province for the specified periods since the provision could not be implemented as indicated above.

END

Reply:

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) has engaged the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to undertake a forensic investigation into the failures experienced by the DoJ&CD in respect of MojaPay system. The CSIR advised that they have the requisite skills to assist the Department, however, it was recommended that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) be engaged for the participation by the DoJ&CD in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed between the CSIR and DCS.

1.1 A review of the DCS-CSIR MOU, in particular Service Programme 4, yielded that the Department could not utilise the said MOU because the deliverables/services did not make provision for a Forensic Investigation as was required by the Department as it only made provision for a service where the following high level deliverables are required:

(a) Current State Assessment;

(b) Future State; and

(c) GAP Analysis and Roadmap.

1.2 In light of the above, the DoJ&CD embarked on an exercise to determine the root cause, through the Major Incident Process of the Department, which was duly undertaken and completed.

1.3 It was determined that the root cause was Data Corruption as a result of the Database Administrator (DBA) of the Service Provider, having chosen an incorrect option in the Client Copy Process which should have been from the Quality Assurance (QA) Server to the Production Server (human error) instead of choosing from the Production Server to the QA Server. This led to the crash of the Production Server.

1.4 The solution could not be restored as per the prescribed Disaster Recovery timelines, primarily due to incomplete backups (system error on backups) which led to delays in getting the system functional. To reduce the restoration timelines, a process to copy the data on the servers to external hard drives had to be undertaken to restore the data.

1.5 The Department has implemented interventions from key lessons learnt to mitigate against possible future failures and recovery timelines such as:

• Performing regular (scheduled) backup restore tests;
• Optimizing the backup processes; and
• Enabling active-active failover capabilities for MojaPay (from Primary Datacentre to the Secondary Datacentre).

END

Reply:

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development seeks to intensify efforts in the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a strategic enabler to function more effectively and efficiently with the objective of improving internal operations and service delivery within the Department and its partners.

The two (2) facets of Modernising Business Services and Strengthening the ICT Infrastructure are interrelated, and are the key pillars for the overall Modernisation roadmap.

1. Modernising Business Services

Currently, access to Civil case adjudication in the lower courts is heavily dependent on foot traffic entering the court buildings for litigants and their representatives to file court papers. The Department seeks to modernize this access, and has embarked on a journey to provide an operational environment that is not so heavily dependent on physical appearance in the courtroom.

The ability to make use of e-filing and virtual appearances is a methodology to enable the courts to more effectively finalize civil matters and deal with the backlog in cases that have accumulated over time in the era of communicable diseases.

​1.1 Civil Case Management Solutions (ICMS – Civil module)

The ICMS Civil modernization case flow management functionality (Phase 1) was completed in 2017 and rolled out nationally to 488 courts.

The system enables the Department to strengthen its administrative capacity and capabilities in, amongst others, the following areas:

1. Developing and monitoring service standards based on electronic case management information, intelligence and reporting;
2. Limiting the extent of missing or fraudulent documents through scanning of documents to an integrated repository; and
3. Determining influencing factors which have an adverse effect on the speedy finalization of cases by providing management information on the reasons for postponements focusing on unwarranted postponements which defeat the rationale behind providing speedy and cost-effective justice services.

1.2 Online interphase with Case management system

The Department’s ICMS Civil system is now being integrated to the Civil Online Portal and caters for case information to be passed from the initiating party to the ICMS solution and thereby eliminates data capturing duplication from paper-based documents and therefore improves data quality.

The integration of the online portal through which litigants and legal practitioners can converse with the court clerks and upload their court filing, is a development priority and is currently nearing the pilot phase for testing with external parties, i.e. Legal / Legal Aid South Africa practitioners.

The Governance structure supporting this development is reliant on the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 12 of 2021) which contains amendments to the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1944, so as to provide for “the giving of evidence through audio-visual link in proceedings other than criminal proceedings.”

The new Magistrate’s Court Act Rules that came into operation on 1 February 2022 are aligned to enabling digital filing of court documents and the virtual appearance of any or all parties to Civil court case proceedings.

The Online Portal is aligned to the Department’s modernization requirement to digitize all paper-based documents and through the creation of a portal whereby documents are uploaded outside the courthouse, this will render the cases initiated on system to be paperless from the start.

​1.3 Integration with Case participants – Case Outcome Messages and Court Orders

Alongside the paperless processing functionality, the Department has further developed Phase One of a digital work environment for Presiding Officers referred to as the e-Judicial Workspace.

The creation and transmission of a digital case file that has been enabled through the parties uploading court documents on the online portal to the ICMS system will enable the case file to be provided to the relevant Presiding Officer in digital format.

It is envisaged that the Judicial Officer would thus be enabled to perform case preparation from online case files and further empowered to issue court orders digitally using an authenticated digital signature to render the court order process to be paperless.

The integration through the Civil Online Portal together with the e-Judicial Workspace seeks to enable automatic transmission through electronic portals of all case/court related information (e.g. case schedules, case outcomes and Court orders) to the parties and their representatives.

This seamless creation, communication and storages of court orders also seek to improve the integrity of Civil court orders, especially in the Regional Court Divorce matters where the Department experiences challenges with fraudulent court orders being generated.

The Department is focused on transitioning from the current state to the desired state, i.e. the ability to dispense justice and adjudicate matters through new processes utilizing systems as a tool of trade. To this end, the involvement from the Judiciary to engage and drive the change required to utilize 4IR as a strategic enabler is crucial. This common objective shall be achieved through ensuring that the partners that are impacted by it and have an interest in it, are on board and supportive.

​1.4 Initiatives for Legislative reform

It is necessary to take into consideration the concurrent monetary jurisdiction between District and Regional Courts as well as the concurrent area of jurisdiction between the High Courts and Lower Courts, which is required to bring about further efficiencies in the courts for the long term.

​1.5 Integration with Department of Home Affairs’ System

The Department’s ICMS Civil system has been integrated with the Department of Home Affairs’ system. This integration, which has been implemented in all courts country-wide, caters for identification related information to be verified with Home Affairs, thereby improving data accuracy, quality and reducing fraudulent or misrepresented identification information.

​1.6 Audio Visual Remand (AVR) Solution expanding to a fully-fledged Court Audio Visual Solution (CAVS)

The current AVR solution implemented in forty-three (43) courts provides for the use of CCTV system in the court environment to facilitate the postponement of cases in which the accused is an Awaiting Trial Detainee, without the detainee leaving the Correction Centre. The Sexual Offences System enables a Closed-Circuit TV (CCTV) functionality for when intermediaries are utilised to assist vulnerable witnesses in sexual offence matters.

The implementation of the Converged Technology Project seeks to achieve a fully functional Court Audio Visual Solution (referred to as CAVS). This solution will enable the virtual appearance of any court participant in a civil matter. The next phase of the solution will be to provide a virtual courtroom whereby all parties to the matter will appear virtually.

2. Strengthening the ICT Infrastructure

Modernization of Business Services through the implementation of IT Business Solutions, requires a supporting, responsive and stable underlying IT infrastructure. The following are key achievements in terms of upgrading the IT Infrastructure:

​2.1 End User Devices: Scanning technology

The Department has implemented business solutions (e.g. ICMS Civil) that utilise scanning technology to enable the digitalization of court documentation into an electronic format. These scanners need to be continuously refreshed, and approximately 860 outdated case management system scanners have been replaced since 2015.

​2.2 Digital Signature Pads (hardware only)

The current process within the Department requires documents to be printed, physically signed and then scanned, resulting in increased printing and paper costs and turnaround times as well as creating dependencies on multiple devices such as printers and scanners. The objective of this project is to digitalize the court documentation and introduce a single inexpensive device known as signature pads to modernise the process of approving documents by means of a digital signature.

​2.3  Network Infrastructure

Installation of VPN (WAN) Optimisers in some of the courts to improve the performance of the already over utilised network in order to provide the necessary base infrastructure required to support the optimal operation of business solutions.

IT network infrastructure performance challenges create inefficient processing of business applications from network’s slow response experienced daily resulting in service delivery inefficiencies. The network upgrades (Core and Access Switches) are aimed at increasing bandwidth which is a crucial element for optimal performance of the DoJ&CD Business applications which includes the online portals aimed at improving service delivery and reducing frustration of users.

IT Disaster Recovery Plan supports the recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or man-made disaster. Disaster recovery solution based on the service recovery needs at the time, was required to prevent the loss of data in the event of a disaster and to enable business continuity between the Departments.

3. Practical steps taken to improve the capacity of courts to deal with civil matters:

The Civil Jurisdiction for the Regional Court has been extended to various courts within the Region, thereby bringing services closer to communities by ensuring access to justice at the local Magistrates’ Courts.

The Regional Offices has appointed Registrars, who oversee Civil Court process management in the Region.

Furthermore, Assistant Registrars have been appointed in all courts where the Regional Civil Court sits, and stamps have been procured for all appointed Assistant Registrars. Clerks of the Civil Court have been trained to deal with Regional Civil Court matters.

Regarding court capacitation, the Department will try and ensure that all civil courts are capacitated with human capacity when the need arises. Dedicated Civil Clerks have already been introduced and implemented in the big courts, but in some small offices, the Clerks are not only dealing with civil matters, but other matters as well. Dedicated capacity should be implemented in all the courts.

Regarding training, this ensures that all officials who are newly and recently appointed, are trained accordingly. Where need arises, the continuous refresher trainings will be conducted.

Regarding IT Infrastructure, the Department strives to ensure that the IT equipment (computers, printers, scanners, etc) utilized is up to date and of good quality.

Regarding modernization, it is regarded as essential to introduce and implement the current system to all stakeholders to move faster, e.g. serving of court documents and receiving court orders electronically. The Regional Head of Free State, for example, recommended an investigation and option to link the Civil Divorce system with Stats SA and the Department of Home Affairs, so that when a decree of divorce is issued, a notice is sent immediately.

Issues receiving attention in Civil Courts by the Regional Offices are attached as Annexures A, B, C and D as received from the Regional Heads concerned.

 

 

Reply:

1. (a) (i) After receiving all required documents, the Masters’ Offices took, on average,

Twenty one (21) working days to issue appointments such as Letters of Executorship as well as Letters of Authority in the 2021/22 financial year.

(ii) The Administration of Estates Act No. 66 of 1965 does not prescribe a specific

time period within which an appointment in a deceased estate needs to be issued by the Master. After receiving all required documents, the Masters Offices did 77% of all appointments within 21 working days after receiving all required documents, in the 2021/2022 financial year. The set target for this objective was 65%.

The average performance over the 2021/2022 financial year, per office, is as follows:

OFFICE	PERFORMANCE
BISHO	97.83%
BLOEMFONTEIN	84.51%
CAPE TOWN	56.12%
DURBAN	75.87%
GRAHAMSTOWN	87.28%
JOHANNESBURG	92.26%
KIMBERLEY	39.53%
MAHIKENG	79.78%
MTHATHA	99.99%
NELSPRUIT	52.96%
PIETERMARITZBURG	83.09%
POLOKWANE	80.49%
PORT ELIZABETH	85.74%
PRETORIA	63.37%
THOHOYANDOU	100.00%

(b) The Administration of Estates Act No. 66 of 1965 does not prescribe a specific

time period within which an appointment in a deceased estate needs to be issued by the Master.

(c) Each year, the Master’s Branch reconsiders its Annual Performance Plan (APP)’s

objectives to determine if they are still realistic, and requests to have them adjusted where a need to change them arises. Currently, the target is to issue 70% of all appointments within 21 working days. The acceptable time to issue appointments is influenced by various internal and external factors such as vacancies, Covid-19 Regulations, network speed, load shedding, system downtime and system challenges, etc. It also differs from office-to-office as the workload and demographic of offices are not the same.

2. The timeframe for the issuing of appointments in deceased estates are measured through the APP, which currently have the following output indicator for the 2022/23 financial year: 70% of letters of appointment issued in deceased estates within 21 days from receipt of all required documents

Reply:

There was no delay in providing the requested fingerprints and photographs. The following timeline reflects how this process progressed:

a) 02 March 2022: Request received from Interpol Pretoria, on a request that they received from Abu Dhabi on 01 March 2022 for fingerprints and photographs of the Gupta brothers.

b) 03 March 2022: Fingerprints requested from the Criminal Record Centre.

c) 04 March 2022: Requested fingerprints obtained from Criminal Record Centre.

d) 10 March 2022: Fingerprints forwarded to Interpol Pretoria.

e) 14 March 2022: Fingerprints and photographs sent to Abu Dhabi. Photographs were in fact sent with the Red Notices in June 2021 but sent again in March 2022.

Reply:

I would like to inform the Honourable member that; the office is waiting for a feedback from the Office of the Chief Justice.

Reply:

1. Below is the current status of the prosecution of each of the nineteen (19) accused instigators of the July 2021 unrest:

1. Orifile Oratile Sedika: The matter was struck off the roll in terms of section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 due to delays in investigation.
2. Crispin Bethwell Sibongiseni Sikhakhane: The matter is adjourned to 02 August 2022 for legal representation and instructions.
3. Themba Gundwane Emmanuel Minisi: The matter was postponed to 18 July 2022 for plea.
4. Montsamai Phineas Letsoalo: The matter was provisionally withdrawn for further investigations to be conducted.
5. Bonginkosi Khanyile: The matter was postponed for plea and trial purposes to 15-26 August 2022.
6. Mdumiseni Kheta Zuma: The matter was remanded to 10 May 2022 for the outcome of consultations and attorney to confirm fees. 4-5 August and 1-2 September 2022 trial.
7. Zamaswazi Zinhile Majozi: The matter was struck off the roll and subsequently declined to prosecute.
8. Joe Bernington Mabaso: The matter was withdrawn on 30 May 2022 due to insufficient evidence.
9. Mbonani Clarance Tabane: The matter was withdrawn on 20 October 2021.
10. Brian Ngizwe Mchunu: The matter has been adjourned for plea and trial to 12-13 October 2022.
11. Bruce Nimmerhoudt: The matter was postponed for plea and trial purposes to 25-29 July 2022.
12. Sibusiso Mavuso: The matter was withdrawn on 15 March 2022 due to insufficient evidence.
13. Sabelo Msomi: The accused appeared in court and the matter has been postponed to 22 July 2022 for trial.
14. Ike Thamsanqa Khumalo: The matter was remanded to 19 August 2022 for the results of the Mutual Legal Assistance application to the USA.
15. Solani Silawule, Sifiso David Nhlapo, Daluxolo Sizwe Weyi and Cebolazakha Sabelo Zondo: The Deputy Public Prosecutor did not pursue incitement charges but theft charges are preferred. The case is no longer being monitored as incitement case, and the matter was last in court on 22 June 2022.
16. Mandla Mahlangu: The matter was withdrawn on 07 December 2021.

2. There have been no additional persons arrested since 17 March 2022. The details as set out above has thus not change.

END

Reply:

a) Steps taken to improve the communication process with the families of victims who are not receiving speedy justice for crimes committed against family members

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has already taken steps to improve the communication process with families of victims emanating from Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) matters. The Office of the Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions (DNDPP), Adv de Kock, issued an internal memorandum on 2 June 2022, directing all dedicated TRC prosecutors to engage actively and directly with family members in respect of their matters. This is in line with the NPA’s victim-centered approach. A deadline was set in respect of which the contact details and names of all families affected, had to be compiled and forwarded to the National Office by 29 July 2022. Strict monitoring of regular updates to families will be captured on the monthly TRC reports, with particular communication dates documented thereon.

b) Steps to be taken to improve the slow pace of progress with the prosecution of matters emanating from the TRC:

The NPA acknowledges that the delay in finalising outstanding cases is unacceptable. However, the NPA does not have an investigative capacity, annd the functions of an investigator rests with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI). Prosecution Guided Investigation (PGI) methodology is being followed in respect of all TRC investigations. The NPA is working closely with colleagues/officials in the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the DPCI to ensure that it is able to deal with all outstanding cases on an urgent basis.

The following measures have been implemented to expedite the speedy finalisation of investigations and decisions whether or not to institute a prosecution:

1. Scoping exercise completed to identify additional resource allocation to NPA and DPCI;
2. Appointing dedicated capacity within the NPA and DPCI to specifically deal with TRC matters;
3. Joint collaboration with DPCI to expedite investigations and prosecutions/decisions;
4. Creation of a separate portfolio at Head Office to manage, monitor and evaluate progress in respect of TRC matters;
5. Identified matters for prioritisation within the DPP divisions of the High Courts;
6. Divisions set action plans and time-frames for completion of investigations and decisions;
7. Monthly progress reports submitted to Head Offices of the NPA and DPCI: Monitoring, evaluation and assessment;
8. Identification of challenges and impediments in respect of each case and how to overcome it;
9. Addressing challenges pertaining to dockets, inquests documents that are destroyed, witnesses/perpetrators who are old, tracing of witnesses and suspects;
10. Immediate redress and guidance to prosecutors and investigators in respect of outstanding investigations;
11. Interventions employed where there’s no progress within divisions;
12. Quarterly joint, accountability instituted sessions between NPA and DPCI;
13. Training and skills transfer between NPA and DPCI implemented;
14. Ongoing coordinated guidance and support from Head Office; and
15. Ongoing consultation with victims and family members and continuous feedback to families via the offices of the NPA and DPCI.

END

Reply:

1. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS), in support of Government Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP), developed procedures to facilitate and promote the involvement of victims in Correctional Supervision and Parole Boards (CSPB) meetings whern an offender is considered for possible placement on parole.

in order to facilitate the involvement of victims in the Parole Board meetings, provisions were made in both Section 75 (4) of Correctional Services Act, 1998 (Act 111 of 1998), as well as Section 299 A of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act 51 of 1977) to regulate matters in this regard.

1. (a) & (b) Yes, it is a requirement to consult only victims of offences that are specified in section 299A of Act 51 of 1997. Such a victim, whether was present or absent during the sentencing of the offender, have the right to be informed of his right to make representations when placement of an offender on parole, day parole or correctional supervision is being considered. The victim is notified of the date, time and place of the Parole Board meeting. Formats of the representations, process of the meeting, and influence of representation on the decision are also explained to the victim.

In case where the primary victim was murdered the family is also considered as victim and is invited to make a representation when an offender is considered for possible placement. It is important to note that the notification/ invitation is sent to the victim at least 30 days to the scheduled date of the Parole Board meeting.

A list of such offences in which victims may participate in the parole processes is provided as follows in section 299A of the Act 51 of 1977:

a) Murder or any other offence which involves the intentionally killing of person;

b) Rape;

c) Robbery where the wielding of a fire-arm or any other dangerous weapon or the infliction of grievous bodily harm or the robbery of a motor vehicle in involved;

d) Assault of a sexual nature;

e) Kidnaping or any conspiracy, incitement or attempt to commit any offence contemplated in paragraphs (a) to (b)

However, a victim of any other offence not listed above is also allowed to make representations to the Parole Board and the Board may not disapprove such a request without good reason.

The Department has employed Auxiliary Social Workers who are amongst others assisting with victim tracing in each Management Area.

2. The table below outlines the number of cases in which victims and\/ or their families were not consulted before parole was granted:

Region	2019/2020	2020/2021	2021/2022
Eastern Cape	20	81	15
Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West	245	470	351
Free State & Northern Cape	21	39	07
Kwa-Zulu Natal	235	605	947
Gauteng	836	776	551
Western Cape	39	62	11
Grand Total	1396	2033	1882

Covid-19 had a negative impact on victim participation in the Parole Board meetings, which made it difficult for more victims to be traced during that period. Although some participated in Victim Offender Dialogue they have registered a need not to participate when parole is considred.some victims that were traced had relocated to unknown areas. It should be noted that efforts have been made to trace all victims with no success.

For the same reported period the following number of victims participated in the Parole Board meetings through various forms of representations during parole processes such as physical, written and audio recordings.

2019/2020	2020/2021	2021/2022
1456	1765	1721

END

Reply:

a) Upon enquiry remand detainee, Philemon Lukhele alleged that a cell phone was delivered to him by unknown Correctional Official. The Department and South African Police Services conducted an investigation, subsequently an official who is suspected of giving the mentioned inmate the cell phone was issued with a contemplation of suspension letter as part of the departmental disciplinary process.

b) The matter was reported to South African Police Services (SAPS) under case number 420/05/2022, which should determine what the cell phone was used for.

c) The criminal investigation by SAPS which is currently underway will determine its impact on the ongoing murder investigation.

END.

Reply:

The Director of Public Prosecutions: Free State confirmed that the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit received the said criminal case docket, allocated to a Senior Advocate to deal with the docket. Additional information was subsequently submitted by the Investigating Officer towards the end of May 2022 for evaluation. The decision in respect of all matters is pending.

Reply:

a) The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) does not arrest or charge accused but is involved in the prosecution of accused persons. The South African Police Service will be in a better position to respond to the above question, especially due to admission of guilt options having been determined by the Judiciary on various of these contraventions. Persons charged with offences related to contraventions in terms of the State of Disaster Regulations, may have paid admission of guilt and those dockets would not be sent to NPA – except if the admission of guilt fine may have been set aside in terms of Section 57(7) of the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977.

b) Information extracted from the Electronic Case Management System consists of 265 accused still in court with cases involving 9 489 accused disposed of in court. The total accused that appeared on charges relating to the State of Disaster Regulations amounts to 9 754 accused.

Reply:

a) The table below provides details of the number of Prisoners currently incarcerated in our prisons system as a result of drug related offences:

Region	Remand Detainees	Sentenced	Total
Eastern Cape	132	207	339
Free State, Northern Cape	25	95	120
Gauteng	529	220	749
KwaZulu- Natal	129	109	238
Limpopo,Mpumalanga, North –West	62	187	249
Western Cape	798	642	1440
National	1675	1460	3135

b) The crime description captured on the Integrated Inmate Information Management System (IIMS) is “Dealing and/ possession of prohibited drugs)”

In the legacy Admissions and Release (A&R) system, the crime description is “( Marijuana- Possession of) (Marijuana- Use of), ( Marijuana- Crimes N.M.E), (Marijuana- Trade With), (Proh Habit form Med Use/ Possess)”. It can therefore not be ascertained if Marijuana (cannabis) is the only drug related offence to the exclusion of other drugs offences being captured on the system to make the distinct difference.

Region	Remand Detainees	Sentenced	Total
Eastern Cape	132	179	311
Free State, Northern Cape	25	94	119
Gauteng	529	220	749
KwaZulu- Natal	129	105	234
Limpopo,Mpumalanga, North –West	62	186	248
Western Cape	798	638	1436
National	1675	1422	3097

(c) The information regarding possession of marijuana in quantities is not captured on the Admission and Release System.

END

Reply:

As regards question (a), I received a letter (the letter), dated 07 April 2022, from the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, Honourable Mangwanishe. The letter states that the Committee would embark on oversight visits to courts and correctional centres from 19 April 2022. The letter states further that “[t]he Committee requests that relevant departmental officials be part of the visits”. In response to and in honour of the Committee’s request, I requested the Chief of Staff from the Ministry and other officials from the Department to be part of the visit.

I would like to point out that the Chief of Staff and the other officials from the Department were not part of the Committee’s oversight visit so as to interfere with, take over or usurp the Committee’s functions during the visit. But, as indicated above, were there in response to the Committee’s invitation. It is not only unfair, but also unjustifiable to suggest that the Chief of Staff’s presence during the oversight visit was a “flagrant blurring of the lines between legislative oversight and Executive encroaching on territory it has no legitimate interest in”.

To the best of my knowledge, the Chief of Staff did not interfere or encroach on, or influence any one or structure that was visited by the Committee. I wish to point out that the Chief of Staff has, following the oversight visit, provided me with valuable feedback on how we, as a Department and Ministry, can improve services delivery based on the issues highlighted by the Committee.

As regards question (b), the question assumes that the Chief of Staff violated the separation of powers. This is incorrect because, as indicated above, the Chief of Staff’s presence was in response to and in honour of the invitation from the Chairperson of the Committee. To the best of my knowledge, there are no functions of the Committee that the Chief of Staff usurped or took over thereby encroaching on the principles of the separation of powers. There is no failure that can be attributed to me that I failed to ensure proper separation of powers because there was no encroachment on the separation of powers by the Chief of Staff’s presence during the Committee’s oversight visit.

END

Reply:

(1)(a)&(b) The table below reflects the recommended capacity and actual occupancy levels as at 01 June 2022.

Correctional Centre	Approved Bed Space	Inmate Population	Occupancy Levels	Overcrowding Levels
Eastern Cape	12 431	20 265	163.02%	63.02%
Gauteng	23 630	34 405	145.60%	45.60%
KwaZulu-Natal	18 117	22 414	123.72%	23.72%
Limpopo, Mpumalanga & North West	18 265	22 190	121.49%	21.49%
Free State & Northern Cape	18 547	19 031	102.61%	2.61%
Western Cape	17 814	26 633	149.51%	49.51%
TOTAL	108 804	14 4938	133.21%	33.21%

(2) The table below reflects the overcrowding levels per correctional facility as at 01 June 2022.

Correctional Centre	Approved Bed Space	Inmate Population	Occupancy Levels	Overcrowding Levels
Queenstown	114	397	348.25%	248.25%
Bizana	48	166	345.83%	245.83%
Mount Frere	39	134	343.59%	243.59%
Allandale	293	920	313.99%	213.99%
Lusikisiki	126	377	299.21%	199.21%
Flagstaff	45	134	297.78%	197.78%
King William's Town	281	787	280.07%	180.07%
Thohoyandou Med B	225	616	273.78%	173.78%
Burgersdorp	176	471	267.61%	167.61%
George	510	1257	246.47%	146.47%
Worcester Males	402	955	237.56%	137.56%
Knysna	165	386	233.94%	133.94%
Mount Fletcher	107	250	233.64%	133.64%
Johannesburg Med A	2468	5703	231.08%	131.08%
Oudtshoorn Medium A	281	632	224.91%	124.91%
Pollsmoor Females	253	568	224.51%	124.51%
Oudtshoorn Medium B	54	121	224.07%	124.07%
Butterworth	134	299	223.13%	123.13%
Beaufort-West	73	161	220.55%	120.55%
Mosselbaai	290	624	215.17%	115.17%
Odendaalsrus	293	616	210.24%	110.24%
Makhado	303	629	207.59%	107.59%
PMB Med A	1493	3072	205.76%	105.76%
Prince Albert	42	86	204.76%	104.76%
Barkly-East	62	126	203.23%	103.23%
Modomolle	318	646	203.14%	103.14%
Grootvlei A	806	1630	202.23%	102.23%
Ladysmith	307	619	201.63%	101.63%
East London Med. B	477	957	200.63%	100.63%
Mount Ayliff	68	136	200.00%	100.00%
Middledrift	565	1124	198.94%	98.94%
Willowvale	43	85	197.67%	97.67%
Robertson	182	359	197.25%	97.25%
Mdantsane	635	1237	194.80%	94.80%
Mthatha Medium	640	1246	194.69%	94.69%
Caledon	194	375	193.30%	93.30%
Vereeniging	637	1217	191.05%	91.05%
Engcobo	74	140	189.19%	89.19%
Johannesburg Med B	1499	2819	188.06%	88.06%
Polokwane	501	921	183.83%	83.83%
St Albans Med.A	733	1345	183.49%	83.49%
Worcester Females	114	208	182.46%	82.46%
Malmesbury	158	288	182.28%	82.28%
Springbok	69	125	181.16%	81.16%
Nqgeleni	84	152	180.95%	80.95%
Krugersdorp	1466	2641	180.15%	80.15%
Uniondale	37	66	178.38%	78.38%
Pollsmoor Medium B	648	1151	177.62%	77.62%
Dwarsrivier	185	325	175.68%	75.68%
Piet Retief	239	417	174.48%	74.48%
Graaff-Reinet	68	118	173.53%	73.53%
Ladismith	49	85	173.47%	73.47%
Waterval Med B	278	482	173.38%	73.38%
Mqanduli	66	112	169.70%	69.70%
Kgoši Mampuru II Female	132	224	169.70%	69.70%
Pollsmoor	1512	2565	169.64%	69.64%
Kranskop	59	100	169.49%	69.49%
Barberton Max	780	1311	168.08%	68.08%
Sada	269	452	168.03%	68.03%
East London Med. A	797	1333	167.25%	67.25%
Brandvlei Medium C	303	506	167.00%	67.00%
Harrismith	209	349	166.99%	66.99%
Greytown	57	95	166.67%	66.67%
Bethlehem	180	298	165.56%	65.56%
Lady Frere	50	82	164.00%	64.00%
Mthatha Remand	679	1113	163.92%	63.92%
Stellenbosch	53	86	162.26%	62.26%
St Albans Max.	1225	1970	160.82%	60.82%
Goodwood	1653	2658	160.80%	60.80%
Buffeljagsrivier	214	344	160.75%	60.75%
Helderstroom Med A	636	1019	160.22%	60.22%
Modderbee	2309	3661	158.55%	58.55%
Durban Med B	1936	3059	158.01%	58.01%
Idutywa	92	145	157.61%	57.61%
Nqamakwe	51	79	154.90%	54.90%
Sasolburg	302	467	154.64%	54.64%
Drakenstein Medium A	458	706	154.15%	54.15%
Helderstroom Max	534	820	153.56%	53.56%
Durban Med C	552	845	153.08%	53.08%
Colesberg	159	243	152.83%	52.83%
Hopetown	40	61	152.50%	52.50%
Durban Female	230	349	151.74%	51.74%
Middelburg	333	505	151.65%	51.65%
Klerksdorp	930	1392	149.68%	49.68%
Mogwase	396	590	148.99%	48.99%
Dundee	82	122	148.78%	48.78%
Johannesburg Female	711	1055	148.38%	48.38%
Victoria West	65	96	147.69%	47.69%
Frankfort	58	85	146.55%	46.55%
Richmond	41	60	146.34%	46.34%
Grahamstown	371	539	145.28%	45.28%
St Albans Med.B	963	1393	144.65%	44.65%
Vryheid	244	351	143.85%	43.85%
Bethal	765	1100	143.79%	43.79%
Glencoe	497	714	143.66%	43.66%
Leeuwkop Max	688	984	143.02%	43.02%
Drakenstein Maximum	383	543	141.78%	41.78%
Leeuwkop Med C	601	850	141.43%	41.43%
Calvinia	29	41	141.38%	41.38%
Baviaanspoort Max	360	508	141.11%	41.11%
Malmesbury Medium A	1080	1521	140.83%	40.83%
Ncome Med A	534	740	138.58%	38.58%
Obiqua	223	309	138.57%	38.57%
Rooigrond Med A	645	877	135.97%	35.97%
Potchefstroom	557	752	135.01%	35.01%
Rooigrond Med B	266	357	134.21%	34.21%
Kgoši Mampuru II Central	1514	2029	134.02%	34.02%
Dodrecht	103	138	133.98%	33.98%
Staart Van Paardeberg	231	305	132.03%	32.03%
Groenpunt Max	1326	1748	131.83%	31.83%
Witbank	1312	1724	131.40%	31.40%
Middleburg	287	377	131.36%	31.36%
Johannesburg Med C	307	402	130.94%	30.94%
Wolmaranstad	101	132	130.69%	30.69%
Lichtenburg	188	245	130.32%	30.32%
Nelspruit	757	986	130.25%	30.25%
Matatiele	70	91	130.00%	30.00%
Durban Med A	2202	2859	129.84%	29.84%
Pietermaritzburg Med B	316	410	129.75%	29.75%
Odi	861	1116	129.62%	29.62%
Barberton Med B	606	783	129.21%	29.21%
Uthrect	38	49	128.95%	28.95%
Baviaanspoort Med	649	836	128.81%	28.81%
Ncome Med B	724	931	128.59%	28.59%
Mtunzini	84	108	128.57%	28.57%
Boksburg Med A	2062	2646	128.32%	28.32%
Emthonjeni	192	246	128.13%	28.13%
Volkrust	202	258	127.72%	27.72%
Riebeek-West	185	236	127.57%	27.57%
Pollsmoor Medium A	1028	1309	127.33%	27.33%
Zonderwater Med A	825	1047	126.91%	26.91%
Stutterheim	42	53	126.19%	26.19%
Heidelberg Male	517	651	125.92%	25.92%
Christiana	89	112	125.84%	25.84%
Somerset-East	123	153	124.39%	24.39%
Nongoma	46	57	123.91%	23.91%
Zonderwater Med B	770	954	123.90%	23.90%
Empangeni	276	340	123.19%	23.19%
Ixopo	79	97	122.78%	22.78%
Melmoth	44	54	122.73%	22.73%
Drakenstein Medium B	402	493	122.64%	22.64%
Kgoši Mampuru Ii Local	2304	2819	122.35%	22.35%
Female & Youth	140	171	122.14%	22.14%
Zeerust	132	161	121.97%	21.97%
Vanrhynsdorp	556	678	121.94%	21.94%
Atteridgeville	546	664	121.61%	21.61%
Ingwavuma	71	86	121.13%	21.13%
Bergville	24	29	120.83%	20.83%
Kokstad Med	345	416	120.58%	20.58%
Heilbron	54	65	120.37%	20.37%
Kirkwood	707	850	120.23%	20.23%
Sterkspruit	65	78	120.00%	20.00%
Eshowe	459	546	118.95%	18.95%
Ermelo	498	585	117.47%	17.47%
Kuruman	325	381	117.23%	17.23%
Nkandla	36	42	116.67%	16.67%
Cradock	301	350	116.28%	16.28%
Grootvlei B	237	272	114.77%	14.77%
Bizza Makhate D	64	73	114.06%	14.06%
Lindley	36	41	113.89%	13.89%
New Hanover	110	125	113.64%	13.64%
Belfast	53	60	113.21%	13.21%
Lydenburg	82	92	112.20%	12.20%
Boksburg Juveniles	271	301	111.07%	11.07%
Bizza Makhate B	533	588	110.32%	10.32%
Newcastle	254	280	110.24%	10.24%
Jansenville	34	37	108.82%	8.82%
Nigel	310	336	108.39%	8.39%
Waterval Med A	608	656	107.89%	7.89%
Qalakabusha	1638	1767	107.88%	7.88%
De Aar Male	268	287	107.09%	7.09%
Fauresmith	29	31	106.90%	6.90%
Maphumulo	44	47	106.82%	6.82%
Sevontein	823	879	106.80%	6.80%
Thohoyandou Med A	685	722	105.40%	5.40%
Kimberley	795	831	104.53%	4.53%
Elliotdale	49	51	104.08%	4.08%
Estcourt	513	529	103.12%	3.12%
Voorberg Medium B	1423	1448	101.76%	1.76%
Upington	744	757	101.75%	1.75%
Stanger	81	82	101.23%	1.23%
Kutama Sinthumule	3024	3024	100.00%	0.00%
Ladybrand	32	32	100.00%	0.00%
Mangaung	2928	2928	100.00%	0.00%
Hawequa	202	202	100.00%	0.00%
Warmbokkeveld	499	489	98.00%	-2.00%
Rustenburg Med A	555	534	96.22%	-3.78%
Boshof	44	42	95.45%	-4.55%
Kgoši Mampuru II Max	294	280	95.24%	-4.76%
Voorberg Medium A	493	462	93.71%	-6.29%
Venterburg	192	179	93.23%	-6.77%
Groenpunt Med	683	630	92.24%	-7.76%
Port Shepstone	180	166	92.22%	-7.78%
Virginia	375	343	91.47%	-8.53%
Tzaneen	501	455	90.82%	-9.18%
Losperfontein	792	719	90.78%	-9.22%
Patensie	417	377	90.41%	-9.59%
Bizza Makhate A	1069	959	89.71%	-10.29%
Leeuwkop Med B Juvenile	673	597	88.71%	-11.29%
Bethulie	44	39	88.64%	-11.36%
Senekal	120	106	88.33%	-11.67%
East London Med. C	280	244	87.14%	-12.86%
Bizza Makhate C	191	166	86.91%	-13.09%
Winburg	141	122	86.52%	-13.48%
Leeuwkop Med A	954	818	85.74%	-14.26%
Tabankulu	46	38	82.61%	-17.39%
Hennenman	230	185	80.43%	-19.57%
Barberton Town	365	293	80.27%	-19.73%
Douglas	279	219	78.49%	-21.51%
Ekuseni	90	69	76.67%	-23.33%
Hoopstad	72	55	76.39%	-23.61%
Brandvlei Maximum (Medium)	981	747	76.15%	-23.85%
Pollsmoor Medium C	522	389	74.52%	-25.48%
Barkley West	58	41	70.69%	-29.31%
Umzinto	287	202	70.38%	-29.62%
Edenburg	55	38	69.09%	-30.91%
Brandvlei Youth	284	190	66.90%	-33.10%
Rustenburg Med B	152	101	66.45%	-33.55%
Zastron	55	36	65.45%	-34.55%
Groenpunt Youth	238	152	63.87%	-36.13%
Ficksburg	69	44	63.77%	-36.23%
Carolina	110	70	63.64%	-36.36%
Port Elizabeth	665	420	63.16%	-36.84%
Devon	347	218	62.82%	-37.18%
Standerton	1462	918	62.79%	-37.21%
Mafikeng	100	60	60.00%	-40.00%
Goedemoed A	696	409	58.76%	-41.24%
Cofimvaba	45	26	57.78%	-42.22%
Tswelopele	2930	1628	55.56%	-44.44%
Pomeroy	78	43	55.13%	-44.87%
Wepener	105	56	53.33%	-46.67%
Goedemoed B	546	280	51.28%	-48.72%
Ebongweni	1536	618	40.23%	-59.77%
Durban Youth	732	269	36.75%	-63.25%
Fort Beaufort	139	46	33.09%	-66.91%
Umzimkulu	60	19	31.67%	68.33%
Brandfort	125	21	16.80%	-83.20%
Barberton Med A	147	0	0.00%	-100.00%
Geluk	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Brits	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Parys	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Brandvlei Maximum	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Swellendam	0	0	0.00%	0.00%

3. The ratio of staff members of the Department of Correctional Services, excluding administrative staff, to prisoners in all prison facilities is 4,47 which is approximately 1: 4. The Department has a total of 30 630 filled Security personnel posts with 1 762 vacancies, the total number of posts is 32 392 with an inmate population of 144 663. The breakdown per region is as follows:

Region	Inmate Population	Total No. of Posts	Ratio
Eastern Cape	20 166	4 445	4,54
Free State & Northern Cape	19 068	4 554	4,19
Gauteng	34 289	6 972	4,92
KwaZulu-Natal	22 473	5 789	3,88
Limpopo, Mpumalanga & North West	22 224	4 908	4,53
Western Cape	26 443	5 724	4,62
TOTAL	144 663	32 392	4,47

END