When the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Dr Penuell Maduna officially launches the Re Aga Boswa project in Durban on Friday (January 31, 2003), it will be the beginning of one of the most important substantive changes in the history of the criminal justice system in South Africa. A partnership initiative between the justice department, Business Against Crime and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the project will dramatically change the way courts are run by streamlining the system and making them more efficient.
Derived from a Sotho phrase that means we are rebuilding, Re Aga Boswa will among other things, see the introduction of professional court managers who will assume day-to-day responsibility for the management and running of courts thus setting free magistrates and prosecutors to focus on dispensing justice.
Advocate Simon Jiyane, Managing Director of Court Services Business Unit said the project was already underway and would bring about major changes in how courts in South Africa functioned.
"Re Aga Boswa will be the forerunner of the Integrated Case Flow Management System. The two projects will together focus on the restructuring of courts and the streamlining and flow of cases to enable the courts to dispense justice with greater efficiency and more swiftly and to make them more accessible to all the people of South Africa," he said.
Another major change that would be brought about by Re Aga Boswa would be the establishment of clear lines of accountability and reporting between the judiciary, the prosecution and court services so that they could function as an integrated efficient unit, Jiyane said.
"The massive increase in crime has built up substantial backlogs at our courts. This programme will directly address this issue. By reducing throughput times, courts will be able to handle larger volumes and thus reduce this backlog."
The fact that representatives from correctional services, social services, prosecutors, magistrates and police officers would now be working more closely together would make the system much more efficient, Jiyane said.
He said substantial progress had already been made in addressing backlogs at courts.
"In October last year, the overall case cycle time was around 85 days. At present we are looking at case cycle times of about 42 days and through these projects, we are committed to reducing these even further," he said.
He said the ultimate objective was to move away from the present fragmented criminal justice system to a unified integrated system.
For more information:
Project managers, Adv. J. B. Skosana for Re Aga Boswa
011-254 7483 / e-mail jskosana@justice.gov.za
Ms Memme Sejosengwe for the ICFMS
012-315 1197 / e-mail msejosengwe@justice.gov.za
Adv. Simon Jiyane, MD of Court Services Business Unit, DOJCD
012 315 1016 or by e-mail sjiyane@justice.gov.za
