What total number of (a) prison escape attempts that implicated prison staff has his department noted in the past two years and (b) arrests have been made in this regard?
a) it should be noted that in 2019/20 a total o f28 attempted escapes were reported, whilst a total of 22 were reported om 2020/21. Based on investigations conducted no officials were implicated in these incidents.
b) No arrests were made as no staff was implicated in these attempted escapes.
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What (a) measures has his department implemented to reconcile the recent budget cuts with the key cost drivers of his department and (b) is the envisaged outcome of such mitigation measures in the short term?
a) The following efficiency measures were implemented by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to absorb the cut:
i) Reduction of the personnel headcount by only filling critical vacant posts in order to manage the compensation of employees’ budget within the set budget ceiling.
ii) Paced down the construction of new courts and prioritised the refurbishment as well as upgrading of existing infrastructure. ...
During the civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July 2021, what steps were taken by his department to safeguard human rights as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, with reference to observing the rights of an accused person to be brought before a competent court within specific timelines under the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977;
(2) with reference to the protection of the right to property during the confiscation of allegedly looted goods, what safeguards were put in place by his department to ensure that courts provide access to persons who were deprived of their legitimate property, where they could have an opportunity to ensure their legitimate rights to their property is upheld through a court of law?
1. The rights of the arrested, detained and accused persons are clearly indicated in Section 35 of the constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. This include the right of the accused:
a) to be brought before a court as soon as reasonably possible but not later than 48 hours after the arrest, or the end of the first court day after the ...
What (a) are the reasons that the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) did not consider applications on a monthly basis, (b) is the backlog in terms of the number of applications that have not been processed, (c) is the monetary value of the backlog for armament export applications and permits, (d) is the date on which it is anticipated that the backlog will be something of the past and (e) are the reasons that export permits were withdrawn with regard to existing orders and permits issued especially to the United Arab Emirates;
2) whether the NCACC has considered (a) the damage to the Defence Industry when the Republic can least afford to lose export orders and market and (b) that the groups protesting the export of munitions may base their complaints and protest on false narratives and ulterior motives; if not, why not, in each case; if so, in each case, what are the relevant details;
3) whether the NCACC has determined any violations of the End-user Certificate (EUC) conditions; if not, why not; if so,
4) whether the NCACC (a) is familiar with the respective exporters and (b) has interacted with these exporters and the host nation’s government for EUC inspections; if not, why not in each case; if so, in each case, on what date will they allow non-implicated exporters to proceed with the export shipments in order not to lose more critical export markets?
1. The NCACC is scheduled to meet every last Thursday of the month. These meetings are planned to take place from February to November. In the event that the Parliamentary Program and some important matters present challenges as regards meetings being held as scheduled, the NCACC makes up for such events. To date the NCACC does not have any outstanding meetings and meeting schedule ...
What is the current update on the investigation into the procurement of (a) ambulances and (b) health services in the North West by the Special Investigating Unit?
a) The Special Investigating Unit has informed me as follows:
Proclamation R42 of 2019
The allegations relate to the irregular award of contracts to Buthelezi EMS and its associated companies for the provisioning of patient transportation services and construction related services in breach of the prevailing procurement prescripts and on terms which are to detriment of the North-West Department of Health (NWDOH). The allegations ...
In light of the Legal Aid South Africa Act, Act 39 of 2014: Amendment of Regulations, published in the Government Gazette on 6 August 2021, what is the envisaged budgetary impact of the extension of legal aid by Legal Aid South Africa to civil matters that have a significant impact on the lives of clients, such as civil proceedings involving children, evictions, social, educational and income-related matters in the next 12 months;
2) what steps has the Government taken to ensure that Legal Aid South Africa is equipped with human resources to handle the increased ambit of its work to the specified civil matters?
There is no additional budgetary impact being brought about by the amendments published in the Government Gazette on 6 August 2021. Legal Aid South Africa re-introduced the provision of Civil Legal Services in about 2004. Currently, the service delivery split between criminal and civil services with 87% on Criminal Defence Services and 13% on Civil Services.
The table below reflects the service delivery split ...
(a)(i) What is the current backlog in maintenance court cases yet to be resolved by his department and (ii) how far back do they date and (b) how does his department intend on resolving the crisis of backlogs with regard to maintenance court cases?
- Prior to responding to the abovementioned question by Ms N.N. Chirwa, it is important to provide the definition of Backlog maintenance court cases in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
- Backlog maintenance court cases means all maintenance cases finalized after 90 days from the date of proper service of process. This definition was developed due to the fact that the Department is alive ...
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Following the announcement by his department earlier in the year regarding the action plan to trace maintenance defaulters and potentially ease dependency on social grants (details furnished), what are the relevant details of the progress that has been made with the specified plan;
(2) What obstacles has his department encountered in carrying out the plan?
1. The Department has conducted an investigation into the trend of the maintenance defaulters and found that most defaulters do not want to be found so as to avoid the maintenance inquiry processes and further that when they are found they conceal their means or distort the extent thereof so as to appear indigent and become exonerated from the liability to pay maintenance.
The ...
(a) What total number of maintenance defaulting cases is his department currently dealing with and (b) how has he found this number to have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to date?
In answering the above question, it is important to first understand the concept of “maintenance defaulter” in its correct perspective. A Maintenance Defaulter is a person against whom a maintenance court order has been issued but who fails to comply in full or in part with the said order for a period exceeding 10 days from the date of the issuing of the said ...
Whether, with reference to his reply to question 1044 on 29 June 2021, the KwaZulu-Natal Regional Court President was subjected to a disciplinary hearing in KwaZulu-Natal in 2018; if not, why not; if so, what were the findings;
(2) whether he will make a statement on the matter?
The Magistrates Commission was ready to proceed with the disciplinary matter since the previous response after it had already appointed two Officers to Lead Evidence (OLE). In the process in getting the OLEs to be trial ready one of the OLE, Regional Magistrate Johannesburg, indicated that he will be leaving the Judiciary to go on pension during 2022 and the matter will not be ...
