Chairperson, firstly, I have pleasure in informing the hon member that the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, cluster departments have introduced various interventions to deal with case backlogs. In this regard, a specific case backlog reduction project intervention was implemented in November of 2006, with the regional courts as the main focus area. Backlog cases are viewed as all those cases longer than six months on a district court roll, nine months on a regional court roll and 12 months on a High Court roll.
The case backlog reduction intervention assists regional and district court centres to identify priority areas countrywide that require focused attention with additional capacity. The project's aim is to ensure that the inflow of the number of new cases is balanced by the number of matters concluded, and that matters are finalised more speedily. This intervention has led to the establishment of more than 50 additional regional backlog courts, through the appointment of additional regional court magistrates, clerks, prosecutors, interpreters and Legal Aid lawyers on contract.
The number has fluctuated since then as courts are closed or shifted to other areas once the backlog has been dealt with in a particular area.
After an investigation into the performance of district courts, several high-priority district courts were also established since April 2010. At the end of December 2010, there were 56 regional and 18 district backlog courts. The total number of cases disposed by these additional regional and district backlog courts since 1 November 2006 until the end of December 2010 is 32 650 cases. The case backlog reduction project will continue in the 2011-12 financial year, with 84 additional backlog courts - 60 in the regional courts and 24 in the district courts.
The project's deliverables have been integrated into the outputs of the delivery agreement of the JCPS cluster relating to Outcome 3, namely that "all people in South Africa are and feel safe".
Secondly, with regard to the management of the awaiting-trial detainees in correctional facilities, the hon member should note that there's constant interaction between the JCPS departments to help reduce the number of awaiting-trial detainees, and various interventions have been initiated in this regard.
An intersectoral management of remanded detainees task team comprising representatives from the JCPS cluster departments at a very senior level was also established in 2010 to fast-track initiatives regarding the improvement of the situation of awaiting-trial detainees.
The Department of Correctional Services has been requested to provide lists of persons in detention with long-outstanding cases, on a monthly basis, to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Legal Aid South Africa and the National Prosecuting Authority, NPA. These cases are then investigated and, wherever possible, fast-tracked for speedy finalisation.
The White Paper on awaiting-trial detainees, which focuses on remand, detention and rehabilitation of offenders, has been finalised and was approved by Cabinet on 27 October 2010. Cabinet has also approved the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill, which will provide for a legislative basis for improved management of remand detention as envisaged in the White Paper. This will assist in addressing overcrowding in Correctional Services facilities.
Through the interventions of the JCPS cluster in relation to reducing overcrowding in Correctional Services facilities, we managed to reduce the number of awaiting-trial detainees from 49 868 at the end of February 2009 to 46 362 at the end of the third quarter of 2010.
Positive results have also been achieved regarding the reduction of the number of children in Correctional Services facilities. At the end of December 2010, there were only 290 awaiting-trial children in the various Correctional Services facilities countrywide. Thank you.