Cape Town - Load shedding has been blamed for criminal case backlogs in courts across the country.
The Judicial Annual Report (JAR) 2021/22, released on Friday, shows that criminal case backlogs in courts were at 49% against its target of 30%.
Only three divisions achieved their targets – the Eastern Cape, Bhisho and the Western Cape High Courts.
The report showed that the Western Cape High Court had a backlog percentage of 21%, which accounted for 13 criminal cases and 63 outstanding criminal cases.
Criminal matters being finalised in high courts showed a positive increase, according to the JAR, where various divisions of the high court managed to finalise 9 853 criminal matters out of a total 11 098 criminal matters – an achievement of 89%.
The annual target of 75% was exceeded by 14%.
The Western Cape High Court had finalised 5 067 of its 5 266 matters – achieving 96%.
The JAR detailed that its criminal case backlog “is ascribed to logistical challenges mainly due to the continuous load shedding, which had an adverse impact on the operations of the courts.
“The annual target for all Superior Courts is set on 30% and mainly aims to ensure the finalisation of criminal matters within 12 months from the date of the accused’s first appearance in the High Court,” the report read.
Compared with the previous reporting period, the number of outstanding criminal trials had also showed an increase against their target.
Anti-crime fighter Hanif Loonat said he was not convinced of the statistics.
Hanif slammed the findings in the report.
“It is a way of lying to your communities.
“The judiciary and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are a part of the problem of not (addressing) crime in its entirety.
“I don’t believe that the judiciary and the NPA are winning, they are winning against the smaller fish.
“They should go after the bigger ones, who are with perfectionism looting our country and making our country a crime haven for foreigners.”
Enquiries to the NPA had not been answered by deadline on Sunday.
Cape Times