NATIONAL ASSEMBLY QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NO: 813 DATE OF QUESTION: 11 MARCH 2022 DATE OF SUBMISSION: 28 MARCH 2022 Mr W Horn (DA) to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services: With regard to the announcement he made in October 2021, detailing the names of the members of the Rationalisation Committee in respect of the High Courts of the Republic under the chairpersonship of Retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, which was to finalise its report by April 2022, what are the details of (a) all meetings held by the specified committee, (b) the progress made with the committee’s work and (c) all expenses incurred and/or payments made to date in relation to the committee’s work? NW992E 1|Page REPLY: (a) The Committee on the Rationalisation of Areas and Judicial Establishments of the Division of the High Court of South Africa held the following meetings: (i) Virtual meeting held on 13 July 2021. Introductory meeting with Deputy Director-General Court Services. (ii) Virtual meeting held 29 September 2021: Discussion of the draft Road map with the DDG Court Services (iii) Physical meeting 5 November 2021 at Protea Hotel Fire and Ice, Pretoria: Department’s detailed submission to the Committee outlining the following aspects:  The challenges pose by pre-1994 areas of jurisdiction of the high courts; in particular, the Eastern Cape and Gauteng divisions  Proposed changes to the current areas of jurisdiction of the high courts; and  Proposed additional local seats with a view to increase access to justice. (iv) It is expected that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) will present their submission regarding the above, at the date to be confirmed. (b) The Committee was expected to submit its Interim Report on or before 15 October 2021 and its final report by 31 December 2021. Subsequent to the presentation by DoJ&CD the Committee then had a sense of the work to be completed and then it was agreed that the Terms of Reference be amended to provide for new dates for submission. In terms of the Committee’s roadmap the OCJ and NPA were supposed to make similar submission to the Committee. There was hesitation from both the OCJ and NPA which derailed the commitments made on the roadmap. The Terms of Reference (ToRs) were thus amended to provide for new dates regarding the submission of reports by the Committee. The dates in the new ToRs were revised to 15 April 2022 for the 2|Page submission of its Interim Report, and 30 July 2022 for the submission of its Final Report. (c) Expenses incurred to date Item Amount Venue for meeting (Protea Fire R16 524.00 and Ice, Pretoria) Accommodation R4 478.77 (Only done for one members for 2 nights. Others members did not require accommodation) Flights R9 233.49 (for 2 members) Shuttle R2 732.24 Ten (10) Laptops R232 387.10 Ten (10) Wi-Fi Routers R53 880.00 Printers R56 575.00 Payments to Members of the R767 103.95 Committee Total 3|Page R1 142 914.55