Our chart this week shows that the number of late outstanding judgments has risen from 181 in December 2022 to over 300 in July 2025, the latest term for which we have data. This data is taken from reports published, usually late, by the Office of the Chief Justice.
News publications like to boast when journalism achieves results. We, for example, shamelessly brag about how we exposed the cover-up of Thabo Bester escaping from prison, and how we helped turn the National Lotteries Commission into a more honest institution.
But we cannot brag about having any effect on the tardiness of the country’s judicial system. We have been reporting on late judgments since 2017, hoping to shame both the Department of Justice and the Office of the Chief Justice into taking measures to improve this dire situation. But as our chart of the week shows, we’ve had no success. On the contrary: the situation is getting worse.
In terms of norms laid out for judges in 2014 by then Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, judges should hand down rulings within three months of judgment being reserved. We started regularly publishing the number of late judgments in 2018, at one stage even building a database for the public to track late judgments.
We decided to set the definition of “late” at six months, not three. The one unfortunate thing our reporting did apparently manage to achieve was that the Office of the Chief Justice seized upon this generosity, and over time the official definition of a late judgment has morphed into six months. (The lesson to be learnt is never to offer state institutions a way out before they show results.)
Mbekezeli Benjamin, writing in GroundUp a year ago, explained how a big part of the problem is the number of vacancies in various courts. “Since 2021, the Moseneke Committee has conducted a detailed study to ‘rationalise’ the High Court, by redrawing some jurisdictional lines and increasing the judicial establishment. This issue is particularly urgent in the face of the crisis of court backlogs due to there having been no increase in the number of judges since 2008. The earliest trial dates in the Gauteng High Court are being issued for 2031.”
A shortage of judges is definitely a part of the problem. But some judges (and acting judges) have been plain lazy.
It is not only the judiciary that causes justice to be delayed. Every aspect of the system contributes to the problem. We recently wrote how low policing has sunk. Inspired by the Jacob Zuma trials, dodgy lawyers have become excellent at gaming the system, dragging out trials that should take months into years. The National Prosecuting Authority is in disarray. Frequently our reporters go to court to cover a trial, only for there to be a postponement because the prosecutor has failed to do their job.
South Africans are losing confidence in the justice system. There is an urgent need for the President, the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice to recognise the situation for the crisis it is, and to take urgent steps to fix it.
Chart produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp
© 2026 GroundUp. This article is published under the GroundUp Republication Licence Version 1.0. Email [email protected] to request permission to republish.
The #JusticeForFarmers movement addresses violence against farmers and promotes rural safety.
Heartbreaker
An retired elderly couple visit London..
They get picked up from the airport in a london black cab and head off into the city for some adventure.
The cab driver say \”where you from guvnor?
Husband. \”we\’re from South Africa\”..
The wife is a little hard of hearing asks her husband.
\”What did he say?\”
The husband turns to his wife and says louder \”the cab driver asked us where we were from, I told him South Africa!\”
The cabbie continues \”I was in the merchant navy years back… I got to drop anchor down your way, a few times in Johannesburg\”
The husband replies \”oh wow that\’s where we\’re from originally, now we\’re in Cape Town.\”
The wife asks the husband again \”what did he say?\”.
The husband again relays the unheard conversation \”the cab driver says he spent some time in the navy and went down to joberg\”.
The wife smiles and nods.
Highlander Monk
Interview with a pirate:
There was a pirate who had agreed to do an interview with a local tv station. The reporter was very courteous and professional, giving a bit of background as to the pirate\’s business. She then began interviewing him.
\”So Mr. Longbeard, are there any risks to your business? I see you have a peg leg- how did that come about?\”
\”Well, y\’see I were sailing along the coast of South Africa, looking to plunder some locals when as I boarded the small boat from the ship, a great white shark came up and got my leg clean off. \’twas scary yes, but thus is the life of a pirate.\”
\”Wow, that is pretty scary- well, how about your hook? What happened to your hand with that?\”
\”Oh now that\’s quite the tale, y\’see I were fighting a rival pirate, and we had locked swords. We had been fighting for a few hours, and were both terribly fatigued. I had a bit of exhaustion and confusion, and when I went to block one of his sword blows, I met him with me hand instead of me sword. Took it right off, but it shocked him so much I managed to get him back pretty good and have him submit. So the hook hand was given as a replacement.\”
\”Wow. Simply fascinating. Now, what about your eye patch? How did that happen?\”
\”Well, one day, a seagull was flying overhead, and I looked up. It pooped right in me eye.\”
\”… Well wow. I must admit, I wouldn\’t think just seagull poop could damage the eye that badly.\”
\”Oh, I forgot to mention… it were me first day with the hook.\”