Cape Town - Three extra magistrates have been appointed to deal with the high volume of court cases in the city, according to Hishaam Mohamed, Western Cape regional head of the Justice Department, who was responding to questions about the more than 5000 traffic cases at the Wynberg and Goodwood municipal courts that had been struck from the roll in December 2014.
The City of Cape Town’s safety and security portfolio committee last week questioned the “alarming” number of cases dropped at these courts in the last quarter of 2014. Officials at the meeting said the December cases had been struck because of “officer error” - some traffic officers had erroneously set the court dates on traffic fines for 25 December. But this was refuted by senior traffic officials who said officers were issued with a list of approved dates to avoid such errors.
Similar discrepancies were picked up for October, with the number of traffic cases struck off the roll at the Wynberg and Goodwood municipal courts exceeding those at other courts with higher caseloads.
Mohamed said cases could be struck off by the presiding officer for various reasons. Often, the control document did not contain crucial information, from insufficient details about the offence and where it occurred, to an incorrect age for the offender.
1000 CASES A DAY
“It should be noted that these courts have up to 1000 cases on the roll for a specific day,” he said, adding that many of the courts were in session from 9am until 4.15pm.
“The department remains committed to provide a safe and healthy environment to the citizens of Cape Town and the region as a whole. It is common knowledge that road accidents and traffic violations are a major threat to the community claiming numerous lives annually. Therefore three additional magistrates have been appointed to assist with traffic-related offences within the greater boundaries of the City of Cape Town.”
Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the city had paid for the extra magistrates.
He said limited court capacity meant cases were struck from the roll because of the cap of 500 cases a day. This number was often exceeded. The city carefully monitored officer and other errors, and it was unlikely that this could be the cause of the rise in cases being struck off in Wynberg and Goodwood.
Mohamed said the justice department was looking into the spike in dropped cases at the two courts last year.
Cape Argus