Delays in South Africa’s courts leave lives in limbo, eroding trust and dignity while citizens wait for long-overdue resolutions.
Everyone has a right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of the law decided in a fair public hearing.
We have seen Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi on a mission to sow back the seeds of trust in the justice system.
We have seen some courts with notorious backstories being visited; promises of better customer service and more efficiency.
While the public waits for the implementation of these promises, the socials speak of hurdles parents still jump in a bid to access justice for their children and the abuse of the same mechanism to abuse others – and the wheels of justice are the means to this end.
Former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula broke down at the High Court in Pretoria where she appeared on Monday.
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She faces 12 charges of corruption and one charge of money laundering after allegedly receiving kickbacks for a defence contract when she was defence minister.
At the postponement of her matter, she broke down, this time for the public to see. While we ought not to shed tears for those implicated in graft and corruption, the constant delays are worrying.
The pace at which justice is dispensed in South Africa has a crippling effect on the affected parties.
How does life continue when the probability of things can be swayed in either way?
We have seen in family courts, the right to care and access are weaponised – not all the time – as a means to wage war in child maintenance cases. Because a DNA test is a right, a child’s body is placed in the ring as parents fight.
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In criminal proceedings, we have seen families attend court cases till the survivors bury each other, all the while, waiting for justice. It is the cancerous nature of our justice system.
But this week, we are invited to seek solutions through the justice system; this abusive justice system.
The story of justice is a tale of two cities. On one hand, it is a story of those who have finalised their matters and never want to look back. At the other end, the ones still deep in the trenches, still hoping for finality and with some dignity still attached to their name.
It is the begging of clerks to show some respect and the repeated postponements that are a pause button on human lives.
So, while we may not weep with Mapisa-Nqakula, her frustration with the delays is something similar and close to the hearts of ordinary people. We are continuously invited to access the slow turning wheels of justice.
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