Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Thembi Simelane on Wednesday announced the creation of an Anti-Corruption Academy aimed at equipping law enforcement officers with skills to combat corruption.
Delivering the department’s R25.1 billion budget for 2024-25, Simelane also announced the relaunch of the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College along with the creation of a new Schools of Prosecution, Leadership, and Business Application.
“These initiatives mark significant progress in our effort to promote integrity and improve the skills of our legal professionals, the justice, crime prevention and security and the public sector.
“The Anti-Corruption Academy will specialise in training individuals in the latest methods of detecting, investigating, and preventing corruption, thus equipping our public servants and law enforcement officers with essential skills to combat corruption at all levels of government,” she said.
Simelane also said there were plans for a smaller intake of young professionals into the Aspirant Prosecutor Programme in 2025 to ensure the continuous infusion of fresh talent into the National Prosecuting Authority.
The programme had an intake of 700 young professionals in 2023 and did not take any in 2024 due to financial constraints.
Simelane said the department will upgrade 68 courts in this financial year.
She also said the department was exploring initiatives to maximise access to justice to all people in South Africa.
“In pursuit of this objective the department will convene a symposium on access to justice in September 2024 that will consider issues relating to the impediments hampering access to justice and explore enduring solutions.”
Simelane also said they were committed to establishing an integrated interdepartmental court security infrastructure.
“This co-ordinated mechanism will proactively assess, evaluate, and analyse potential risks, ensuring the safety of our infrastructure, personnel, and the justice process.”
The minister added that they were committed to cleaning up corruption within the Master’s Office.
“The department continues to implement the Masters turnaround strategy which will be inclusive of internal improvement of business processes, improved stakeholder collaboration and improved customer services delivery model.
“In this regard, the department is currently undertaking a benchmarking exercise to learn from best practices from other government institutions such as the South African Revenue Service and the Department of Home Affairs from their efficient online systems that our department can learn from. “
Simelane said the department was finalising the development of a femicide watch to collect data and monitor gender-based violence and femicide incidents and trends.
“This national repository will provide data on GBV-related femicide cases, assisting the government and partners in creating informed interventions.
“This year, we aim to finalise Phase 7, capturing and analysing live data from SAPS and the department.”
Simelane promised that through modernising South Africa’s courts, services will be initiated, processed, and tracked through online channels without the public having to physically visit offices.
“In the current financial year, the department will embark on a network improvement project to ensure that there is an uninterrupted network services in our courts and service points.”
Cape Times