Court case backlog could be as high as 100,000, says Auditor-General

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has a 13% greater backlog of cases than it did in 2023.

An annual report was presented to the Select Committee on Security and Justice on 6 November detailing the performance success of the NPA, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJCD) and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

Along with the backlog in judicial outcomes, the Auditor-General’s (AG) presentation showed how the successes in the courts impact the perceptions of the public.

Over 80% of targets reached

The report focused on the 2023/24 financial year and the targets set by the three organisations.

The DOJCD reported an 81% success rate, while the NPA reached 80% of its targets. The SIU was the standout, achieving 95% of the targets set.

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Two of the main targets missed by the DOJCD centered around children, as they failed in their objective to finalise all maintenance matters within 90 days of proper service of process.

Additionally, the DOJ missed their goal to serve domestic violence protection orders electronically within a 24 to 48 hour window.

The NPA missed their target of failing to enrol a sufficient number of state capture-related cases and other complex corruption cases, as well as failing to obtain the desirable amount of freezing orders for corruption cases.

The SIU’s only notable missed target was not having enough cases issued in the Special Tribunal.

Backlog in cases

The data is unaudited and based on a trend analysis presented by the various departments.

“Because of the lack of systems in place, we don’t really have a full comprehension of have many backlog cases actually exist in the system,” said AG Senior Manager Aphendule Mantiyane.

“I said there were 37,000 backlog cases, however, when the DDG responsible for court services presented, he the said there were 100,000 backlog cases, which really shows the disparity and the challenges around data and information,” Mantiyane explained

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The top three charges making up the backlog include rape, murder and assault.

“It is concerning that victims of sexual assault have to endure waiting periods of over 12 months to obtain justice,” stated the report.

“There is, however, no apparent reason for the significant increase in the number of cases,” the report claimed.  

Consequences of missed targets

The presentation listed the affect that shortcomings can have on how the public perceive the levers of justice.

On the DOJCD targets, the report said that not achieving such targets were a missed opportunity to meet children’s maintenance needs and exacerbated gender-based violence.  

For the NPA and SIU, not meeting targets led to a lack of accountability and a failure to recover lost funds.

With the prosecution of rape cases being delayed, the report said it perpetuated the perception that successful prosecutions for sexual offences are rare.

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