The Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court’s District courtroom was ordered into shape by magistrate Ms Annemarie van der Merwe on Monday.
Where the court procedures for the day normally ends at 16:00, Monday afternoon’s court session was extended to 16:45. Van der Merwe explained the reason for this delay when a court orderly complained that the court building was about to close.
“Well, sir. When today’s tea break was over and court had to resume at 11:00, the court orderlies had not returned from their teatime yet. They were late when we returned at 14:00 as well. As a result of that, we could not complete our roll for the day in time. We will keep going until we have dealt with every case on today’s schedule.”
Van der Merwe warned the orderlies and other court officials to see to it that they are punctual and made it clear that no more time wasting would be tolerated.
