Zille, Breytenbach slam conditions at Alexandra Magistrate’s Court

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