Chairperson, as part of the initiatives of the criminal justice system review, a protocol in respect of the management of the investigation and proper screening of cases countrywide is poised to be concluded.
This protocol, already operational in several provinces, facilitates the restructuring of the investigation and court processes in order to ensure that courts are focused on trials, rather than administrative matters, such as postponements.
It creates integrated SAPS, NPA, provincial management structures and local detective, prosecutor and screening mechanisms, the latter at each seat of the regional courts in the country. The local screening mechanisms are responsible for the investigation and management of all cases enrolled in the courts that are not trial-ready. They issue instructions for further investigation, follow up on progress and ensure that dockets are properly managed right through to the finalisation of the investigation.
At a provincial level, the responsibility for the management of investigations and the screening of cases is assigned to a suitably experienced investigating officer designated by the SAPS, just below the rank of provincial commissioner - if the Minister were here I would ask him whether that should be a lieutenant general - and a suitably experienced prosecutor designated by the NPA, just below the rank of Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.
Together these persons are responsible for the management of investigations and the screening of cases. They are also responsible for the establishment of local screening mechanisms, as well as the supervising, overseeing, directing and guiding of these processes.
The local screening mechanisms consist of a detective, court case officer or officers designated by the SAPS and a screening prosecutor or prosecutors designated by the NPA. The local screening mechanism is responsible for the management of the investigation of all cases enrolled in the courts that are not trial-ready, and should, where possible, manage the decision dockets requiring further investigation.
A closer interaction between the SAPS and the NPA is fostered, with a particular focus on the more serious cases which are to be heard in the regional courts. This protocol applies across the entire country, including rural areas.
Secondly, and this is quite a different aspect of the question, in terms of section 2 of the Sheriffs Act, a sheriff needs to be appointed for every court. Consequently, all rural municipalities form part of a magisterial district covering that particular area. However, the department has experienced challenges in attracting suitable persons for the appointment of sheriffs in the small rural areas due to the economic nonviability of these areas.
People are discouraged by the low volume of the court processes and the vast distances to be travelled from the local court to serve court processes. Of the 366 magisterial districts covering the entire geographical area of the Republic serviced by sheriffs, 30% are regarded as economically nonviable and process less than 500 court processes and generate less than R150 000 gross income per annum. The economically nonviable offices are located mainly in the poor rural areas of the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Northern Cape provinces.
Several interventions were taken to address the problems to ensure that communities in these areas have equal access to justice. The past interventions included the possible combination of a number of small areas into two or more areas to increase the size of the service area for which a sheriff is appointed. This is with a view to make them more economically viable for the incumbents.
This intervention has had its own downside as one sheriff still has to service a vast area and is often not accessible to a community living in some of the combined areas. As part of the several initiatives being undertaken by the department to transform the sheriffs' profession, legislative amendments to the Sheriffs Act have been proposed to provide for the appointment of state officers as sheriffs in small rural villages which are incapable of attracting suitable candidates for appointment as sheriffs.
The proposed amendments have been included in the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill of 2010, which was published on 15 February 2010 for public comment. Pending the enactment of this legislation, ad hoc arrangements have been put in place in terms of which the clerk of the court will appoint a neighbouring sheriff to serve court processes in the villages where a sheriff has not been appointed. Thank you.