By Lebone Rodah Mosima
Johannesburg DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille said on Thursday that persistent power outages at Alexandra Magistrates’ Court were forcing delays in court proceedings and undermining access to justice.
Zille was on an oversight visit at the court, with the party’s spokesperson on justice, Glynis Breytenbach.
Her visit coincided with the appearance of Bellarmine Mugabe, who is facing attempted murder charges.
Zille said the court could not operate properly without power and warned that this was affecting matters such as the case involving Mugabe.
“This is like where a local government can’t deliver basic services. The big problem with our justice system, apart from many other things, is that it’s entirely clogged up, and cases get stuck in the works for years and years,” Zille said.
“Justice delayed is justice denied – that is the problem. We deal with many people whose cases get postponed again and again – justice is demanded.”
Zille said repeated postponements had serious consequences and created a “knock-on effect” linked to what she described as failing authority.
She said the lack of electricity at the court would have a profound impact on residents trying to access justice.
Asked what she would prioritise at courts if elected Johannesburg mayor, Zille said she would address visible service delivery failures around the court, including sewerage in the road, the enforcement of bylaws, questions about why water was being dammed in the area, and the expenditure of nearly R3 billion in Alexandra over two decades without “meaningful improvements”.
“There was an Alexandra upgrade programme — a special programme — and over the last 20 years, almost R3 billion has been spent. I want to know where that money went, and if it wasn’t spent on basic services, then what?”
Da leader Helen Zille addressing the media outside the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court. PHOTO: X/Supplied
Zille said the Department of Justice needed to ensure the court was able to operate effectively and dispense justice within a reasonable time, including by installing a new generator.
Breytenbach also criticised the conditions at the court and called on the justice minister to visit the site to see the situation firsthand.
“This court has been here for three decades. It’s where the people of Alexandra come to access justice — they have nowhere else to go,” Breytenbach said.
“These conditions are unacceptable; no South African should be subjected to this. There is no dignity in this.”
She said the court’s generator had been nonfunctional for 16 years and said the problem required urgent intervention.
“We will certainly be raising it with the minister on an urgent basis,” she said.
“When I return to Cape Town, I will discuss with our Portfolio Committee chairperson, and this isn’t the only court with a generator that has no fuel, so the courts cannot keep postponing cases for weeks.”
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