Jury is out on problems at Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court

THE Public Servants Association (PSA), representing members based at Port Shepstone Magistrates’ Court, has raised some serious concerns regarding the daily operations at the court.

Labour Relations Officer Roshan Lil-Ruthan said his department had been contacted by members and the community on a number of issues. These include the non-availability witness fees; toner for the photocopiers; non-payment of foreign interpreters and the non-payment of the sheriff for five months.

“This has affected service delivery and has brought not only the administration of justice into disrepute, but also the Department of Justice and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with both the public and the legal fraternity,” said Mr Ruthan.

In some cases docket copies are not being supplied  in order for the defence to prepare for trial, which results in an accused not having a speedy trial. Copies for family court matters including domestic violence, maintenance matters and harassment cases are being affected.

“Witnesses are not attending court because they are not being paid or are short paid. Criminal and civil matters involving foreign nationals are being delayed due to the non-attendance of foreign interpreters and the sheriff refuses to serve the court documents unless paid in full,” said Mr Ruthan.

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The PSA has approached the Department of Justice office management at Port Shepstone only to be redirected to the regional offices in Durban, which seems to indicate the management is also not getting any assistance from the regional office to deal with the crisis.

The PSA members at both the NPA and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJCD) have expressed their concerns that the wheels of justice at Port Shepstone Court are coming to a halt.

State Prosecutor and chairman for the PSA Ugu District, Rubeun Judnarain confirmed the concerns raised by its members at Port Shepstone.

Yesterday (Wednesday) Mr Ruthan said it is beyond belief that the parties with whom they corresponded did not have the decency to respond to the PSA. He added that they had now also referred this to the Minister of Justice.

Management at Port Shepstone Court could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

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