Chairperson, the IFP welcomes this Bill as we have long been concerned about the delays and other negative aspects caused by having a person convicted in a regional court transferred to a High Court for sentencing in terms of the 1997 Act.
This matter has repeatedly been brought to our attention by senior members of the judiciary and we therefore welcome the action taken by the department to repeal the relevant provisions. This should, we believe, end the delays caused by having to transfer cases to the high courts and should, in our opinion, lead to a quicker finalisation of serious cases.
As a consequence, we also welcome the provision made in this Bill for regional courts to hand down life sentences and the introduction of an automatic right of appeal in such cases. We would, however, have liked to see that the automatic right of appeal also be extended to cases where the regional courts impose direct prison terms and not just life sentences.
The question of "substantial and compelling circumstances" to be considered by the judiciary in altering the prescribed minimum sentences remains a vexed problem. The IFP has never been in favour of such prescriptions as they potentially impinge on the discretion of judicial officers - something that the previous member, hon Delport, said. However, we accept that the Constitutional Court found these prescriptions to be constitutionally valid and the hon Minister referred to this earlier.
We also welcome the provision that a court may take into account the period an accused spent as an awaiting-trial prisoner when deciding on a sentence. We would, however, like this provision to be made compulsory.
The Bill also inserts two further grounds for murder. In this instance, we would have liked to see a third ground, namely murders committed against the farming community, also being included, because there have been a number of these murders taking place in our country at this moment in time.
The IFP will support the Bill. Thank you.