'Sanitised' Traditional Courts Bill unveiled
Intent on ending the furore over the Traditional Courts Bill, the Justice Ministry hopes its third try at getting Parliament to approve the law will succeed, some nine years later than planned, says a Daily Maverick report. Heavily revised in more than a year of consultation with a reference group of traditional leaders and civil society, the latest version has dropped controversial previous provisions that would have unconstitutionally reinforced a separate legal system for traditional communities and allowed penalties such as forced labour, banned in section 13 of the Constitution.
Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery described the Bill yesterday as one which would not make everyone happy, but that everyone could live with, according to the report by Marianne Merten. The 2017 version of the Bill talks of speedy and cost-effective dispute resolution and restorative justice, rather than justice and the law. Such courts will deal with theft and malicious damage to property not exceeding R5 000, assault, break-ins, trespassing and defamation. Crucially, says the DM report, this Bill allows for members of a traditional community to opt out (this needs to be communicated to the clerk of the customary court at the beginning of the process), appeals to relevant existing customary law processes, and an escalation to a High Court for review. Both the 2008 and 2012 versions of the Bill bound rural residents to customary courts whose jurisdiction effectively echoed the boundaries of apartheid bantustans.
It is hoped the Bill will be introduced in Parliament by the end of the week, Jeffery said. He said the updated Bill had taken time to finalise due to extensive discussions about issues including the rights of women, notes a News24 report. He expected that not everyone would be happy with the legislation because of customary law and its place in a modern, industrialised society. ‘We hope we have produced a Bill that has great support. But we want a Bill that people can at least say they can live with, on all sides,’ he said. The Bill promotes and encourages the involvement of women, rather than enforcing it. While women would be allowed full participation, some might choose not to, and could thus not be forced, he noted. Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister Obed Bapela said the Bill was necessary ... ‘because this practice is still going on as we speak. Cases are brought to traditional courts as we speak.’ He said they were trying to create norms and standards for handling such cases. People still believed in the traditional way of life and respected their traditional leaders as custodians of the culture and traditions, he said.
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