RUN ON NUMBERS Understanding the impact of immigrants on employment

THE Budget fiasco reveals the state of the nation's finances. South Africa has run out of money. This comes at a time when many state institutions have failed. It is not newsworthy to list them all, but we need to add the failing justice system to the list, as extraordinarily little media coverage was given to this very tragic tipping point that we have reached.

- CORRIE KRUGER

A new directive was issued

In April 2025, from "office of the judge president gauteng division of the high court of south africa" as per Dunstan Mlambo, judge president.

The problem stated is:

"The caseload of the Division continued to rise and has now reached unmanageable levels. The state of the Civil Trial rolls is a source of serious concern. Civil Trial dates in the Division are currently issued as far ahead as 2031, i.e., seven years in the future. This situation is self-evidently unacceptable and intolerable.

The Office of the Judge President decided that a revision of Court processes must be made. From the date of this Directive, the Mediation Protocol for the Gauteng Division (the Protocol), published herewith, shall be in force.

With effect from the date of this Directive, no case shall be issued a trial date unless the request is accompanied by a report on the mediation as contemplated in the Protocol, given by either an accredited mediator or, in the case of matters certified to be heard in the commercial court, a report on the mediation as contemplated by the Protocol, by the judicial case manager.

This Directive is issued in conformity with and in terms of the authority vested in the Head of Court in terms of Section 8(4) (b) of the Superior Courts Act, 2013, Act 10 of 2013, as amended. The Directive is also in line with Section 173 of the Constitution authorising the Judiciary to regulate their own processes.

The possibility that this directive will be challenged by affected parties is high. Many attorneys and advocates have spent months and even years preparing cases for Road Accident Fund matters, who are now unable to get justice for their clients and who face financial ruin for being unable to be awarded fees for work done.