Let the NPA Pack its Own Lunch

Statement by Adv. Glynnis Breytenbach MP – DA Spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) conducted oversight at Alexandra Magistrates Court today, to see whether the situation has improved since our last oversight in March. We found more of the same.

The justice system under Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi is failing South Africans. The National Prosecuting Authority doesn’t have the capacity to convict criminals. Courts are unable to handle cases efficiently, with an ever-growing backlog of criminal matters. These issues contribute to the high crime rate and lawlessness in South Africa.

The National Prosecuting Authority is dependent on the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for resources. This needs to change. The NPA must be given the ability to determine its own budget, thereby allowing it to fill positions when they become vacant, train more prosecutors and recapacitate a hollowed-out institution. We have been left with no option but to write to the Minister, urging her to increase the NPA’s budgetary and operational independence.

At our oversight we found that the court has no electricity. Again. Victims wait in the same dark hallways as the accused. Security scanners don’t work. Transcription machines don’t work. Disabled bathrooms are permanently locked. Outside are piles of rubbish, raw sewage and broken sidewalks. Alexandra Court doesn’t deliver justice – it is an embarrassment.

And yet, while South Africans suffer, the Minister hosted a white tablecloth “luncheon” at a luxury hotel on 7 June. Most South Africans could never dream of such a meal. Why is that money not being used to hire more prosecutors to put crooks behind bars? Why is it not spent to train more Magistrates to reduce the case backlog?

Today, she is briefing the media on the rationalization of our courts, which includes a possible multi-billion rand project of moving the Grahamstown High Court to Bhisho. Experts have ironically labelled this move as completely irrational.

The DA isn’t hosting luncheons or twiddling our thumbs – it is actively working to keep South Africans safe. We’ve introduced a Bill in Parliament to create an independent Scorpions 2.0 to investigate and convict the corrupt and free up capacity at the NPA. We’ve repeatedly demanded that the NPA be given independence, but it has fallen on deaf ears.

If the Minister is serious about honouring her repeated (and yet unkept) promise of ensuring the safety of the populace, she needs to put away every single offender with speed.

The Minister wines and dines while thousands of South Africans are raped, murdered and assaulted every single day. We demand that she focusses on the job at hand – fix Alexandra Court, fix the NPA, save our justice system and put criminals behind bars.