Chairman, I also wish to extend my appreciation to and recognition of the many judges and justices who grace us with their presence today.
This is quite an extraordinary committee. I think all parties in this committee are moving in the same direction and even though our emphasis on certain aspects is different, there is a commonality of intent. This makes it unnecessary for me to repeat what has been said, or in any way distance myself from anything that has been said so far.
I shall therefore identify only a few points, arising from what the Minister said, regarding which I can perhaps make a specific contribution. It gave me hope and left me feeling enthusiastic that the Minister made reference to the amendment of the Court Rules and of regulations and legislation relating to the legal profession.
The core of this department is justice. It is all about "making justice". Justice is not being made and justice is not affordable. The cost of justice has made justice in this country a privilege for the rich. I personally don't advise anyone to go to court with a doubtful case unless there is at least R1 million at stake.
The costs in the legal profession are prohibitive. The cost of the legal profession impacts on the cost of legal aid and on the cost of government functions subsidising that. We have a system where we have three lawyers doing the work that is done by one person in other countries. The cost of lawyers in South Africa, in Johannesburg or Cape Town, is higher than the cost of lawyers in Washington DC and New York. This does not make justice affordable. We must have the courage to reform the legal profession. We have reformed everything else. These are not high priests or untouchables whom we, as Parliament, cannot look at. The split bar no longer makes any sense. It is a vestige of the past and we must distance ourselves from it.
Another aspect is the reform of the judicial process. I have written to the Minister and I have published on this topic. There are ways and means to reduce the cost of engaging in the system of justice. If we adopt a system based on the American system, in which discovery becomes the centre of the process, activities are moved from courtrooms into lawyers' offices. It reduces the cost of lawyers. It dramatically reduces the number of hours required of judges in courtrooms. It simplifies what is brought before a judge. It reduces the skills required to give a judgment. Fewer issues are brought to trial. A three-month trial becomes a three-day trial. This has been tried and tested for about 200 years in the most litigious society in the world, where everyone goes about suing one another happily. That is on the civil side.
On the criminal side, in this committee, and in any of the committees I have attended, the word that is spoken about the most is "corruption". Corruption, corruption, corruption - it is the root of all evil. We are not going to succeed in this battle unless we do the most difficult of all the things that need to be done, namely to draw a line in the sand and start all over again.
I have spoken about this before: I think we must consider, no matter how painful it is, the need for a general amnesty on corruption. It is the only possibility we have for turning the page and having a "clean hands" policy in which the backlog is not dealt with and we send out the message that from this point on we mean business. Let's write it off as the cost of transformation, or of the revolution, or of change in South Africa, but let's turn the page. Corruption within the judicial system has become so rooted - how are we otherwise going to deal with it, also within the other three spheres of government and the rest of society?
The last aspect I wish to address - again, I don't want to repeat what has been said - is the concern about the Judicial Service Commission. I accept, Minister, that from where you sit, you need to present an institutional defence of the system, but the system is not working. The hon Smuts is right: If we do not attract the best of the best, if they do not feel enticed to becoming a judge, the system of justice is weakened at its very root. We need to be able to address the problems that exist and that you, hon Minister, are well aware of. Block voting does exist - it is an open secret. Let's have the courage to dare moving beyond the page that has been written. This went on for the first stage, and we can now move on. With these qualifications, we are pleased to support your budget, Minister. [Time expired.] [Applause.]