By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The outgoing Chief Justice Raymond Zondo presented the Annual Judiciary Report, at the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein.
This marked the last Judiciary Day to be hosted by the Chief Justice, as he retires at the end of August.
In his speech, Zondo announced that the judiciary achieved 11 out of 13 performance targets in the 2022/2023 financial year, reflecting an 85% success rate.
The incumbent Chief Justice said the two performance targets that were not achieved related to finalised ConCourt cases and criminal backlog matters.
Only 55% of Constitutional Court matters were finalised, and the target is 70%.
Zondo said previously they performed better in this respect.
“And this issue is being investigated to establish exactly why there was such a big drop but 55% is of course not a failure, it is simply not as good a pass as one would have liked,” he said.
Zondo has also reiterated previous calls for a constitutional amendment to allow panels at the Constitutional Court to expedite the finalisation of these matters.
The target when it comes to reducing the criminal case backlog, meanwhile, was to get it down to 30% but as Zondo said they did not manage to achieve this either.
“We were only able to reduce the backlog up to the average of 47% – which means that this will have to be a work in progress and hopefully in the next annual report we will perform better,” said Zondo.
The Chief Justice highlighted the fact that the Constitution required 11 judges to hear new applications, which impacted the ConCourt’s work.
He reiterated his call to change the country’s supreme law in order to allow panels of three judges to preside over cases.
“Recently, the Constitutional Court took the position that in order for it to properly discharge its obligations and perform in an acceptable way, it will be necessary for an amendment to be made to the Constitution; so that it is able to dispose a number of matters without every justice having to take part in every case,” Zondo continued.
“So if the Constitutional Court is able, after a constitutional amendment has been made to sit in panels in terms of disposing of applications, that would make a big difference.
“That does not necessarily mean that in terms of matters that get heard as appeals, the Constitutional Court would sit in panels.
“As things stand, we, in the Constitutional Court, take the view that as far as matters that would be heard are concerned, those matters will still be heard by the full panel.
But a lot of other applications would be disposed of without every justice of the Constitutional Court having to be involved.”
Zondo further pointed out that the ConCourt’s work was affected by a lack of resources.
“We have proposed to the executive that experienced lawyers be employed, who would provide support to the justices of the Constitutional Court and, therefore, make their load lighter.
“We are going to wait to hear from the executive whether they go along with the constitutional amendment as well as giving us more resources.”
Zondo revealed that an overwhelming majority of the superior courts performed excellently, either reaching or exceeding their targets.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) exceeded its targets by finalising 85% of matters, surpassing the 80% goal.
Additionally, the SCA finalised 91% of applications and petitions against the same target.
In all nine provinces, the high court divisions achieved an 83% finalisation rate for criminal matters.
The target was 75%. For civil matters, the high courts achieved an 85% rate against a 64% target.
The Electoral Court achieved a remarkable 100%, surpassing its target of 90%. Overall, 72% of reserved judgments in all superior courts were finalised, slightly surpassing the 70% target.
The chief justice also proposed to the minister of justice and correctional services, Thembi Nkadimeng, that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Act be amended to create a bigger pool from which a judge would be picked to deal with a complaint each time the JCC receives a new complaint.
Zondo stated: The proposal that I have made is that section 8 of the JSC Act be amended to provide for the appointment of additional members to the committee whose functions will be limited to dealing with complaints and appeals, and who will not be entitled to vote on any matters.
“Once the act has been amended, as many judges as 50 could be appointed as additional members of the JCC and they could be allocated the complaints and appeals.”
Zondo further expressed gratitude for the support he received from judicial leaders and colleagues as he prepares to go on retirement next month.
He congratulated Justice Maya and extended his best wishes as she gets ready to take over from him.
“I think all of us know how historic this moment … I thought I should express my appreciation for the support that she has given me over the past two years, since her appointment as deputy chief justice,” he said.
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Video Courtesy of JRSA.