Sihlalo, ngithokoze kuwo woke amalunga aHloniphekileko wePalamende. Sihlalo, ngiyabona sele iphaphela phasi nelanga seleliyokutjhinga. Ngizakuba mfitjhani khulu. [Chairperson, I would like to thank all hon Members of Parliament. Chairperson, I can see that we are running out of time. I will be very brief.]
I'm dealing here with the Magistrates' Court Amendment Bill 23 of 2010. I'm doing this on behalf of the chairperson of the justice portfolio committee, Advocate Ngaoko Ramathlodi.
The purpose or the aim of this Bill is to amend the Magistrates' Courts Act, Act 32 of 1944. I must point out that these clauses were part of the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill, but they were taken away or extracted from that Bill in order to process it as speedily as possible.
The reason for doing this is that there are only three amendments that are relevant. These three amendments are intended to facilitate the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act, Act 31 of 2008.
I must also point out that the new Act has as its intention to give civil jurisdiction to Regional Courts in the sense that the jurisdiction of the Regional Courts is now up to R300 000. It gives these courts jurisdiction to handle family-related matters such as divorce, guardianship and custody over minor children. Previously, the divorce courts were regulated by the Administration Amendment Act of 1929, which dealt with matters of black persons.
Briefly, the aim of clause 1 and 2 relates to abolishing the requirements of a person in possession of an LL B degree to be appointed as a Regional Court magistrate. There are reasons for that. Firstly, the current LL B degree is unlike the previous one, which was a postgraduate qualification.
It is now a junior degree for which people can register with a matric. Also, the Regional Court magistrates can be regarded as junior judges. [Interjection.]