In July 2025, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi tabled the Department’s annual Budget Vote before Parliament. She said the Department will continue to direct all its efforts towards improving not only the performance of her Department, but also its impact through service delivery, despite pressing challenges of limited funding. She added that the Department faces a severe annual budget shortfall of approximately R1 billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period. She pointed out that the fiscal environment demands of the Department to do more with less and to be prudent in spending.
Ms Kubayi added that the Department will prioritise increasing access to justice, the continued implementation of the TRC report, the turnaround of the Masters offices, improved state litigation, the fight against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), fighting fraud and corruption, accelerating transformation of the legal sector, operationalisation of the traditional court, and a review of all apartheid laws. She said that to improve the quality and availability of the services at the Masters office they will partner with the private sector and other government agencies such as South African Revenue Service (Sars) and Home Affairs to implement a digital solution that enables operational efficiency and effectiveness.
Ms Kubayi added that the Office of the State Attorney has been experiencing significant operational challenges due to lack of capacity and operational systems. She said that the implementation of a turnaround strategy is underway at the State Attorney which includes systems overhaul, capacitation of the offices such as special focused teams for the Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court.
Ms Kubayi also spoke about GBVF. She said that it continues to devastate individuals and communities. ‘We have a duty to do all that we can to protect the victims of gender-based violence, especially women and children. In this connection, the Department has adopted a victim biased and victim centric approach which puts the victim first to avoid case bungling which allows perpetrators off the hook and secondary victimisation,’ Ms Kubayi said. She pointed out that over the 2024-25 period the National Prosecuting Authority recorded 3 697 convictions in relation to sexual offence with over 79% convicted with direct imprisonment, while 44 147 victims were supported at the 66 Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs) across the country. In collaboration with South African Police Service (SAPS), the DNA project has processed 60 518 DNA samples to track and deal with repeat sexual offenders and serial rapists.
Ms Kubayi added that going forward, the Department will increase the national footprint of Sexual Offences Courts, particularly in rural communities with additional 16 Sexual Offences Courts to be established in line with the recent amendments to the law and two additional TCCs. She said that the Sexual Offences Courts shall assist to deal with the alarming figures of sexual violence in the country and offer support services that are tailor-made for the survivors of sexual crime. She said additionally, the Department will ensure that all convicted sex offenders are registered in the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) and initiate a process to review legislation that is currently an inhibitor to the public release of this register. ‘The Department further plans to ensure that protection orders are served by the clerk of the court on the respondent no later than 24 hours from the time the order is received by the clerk of the court,’ Ms Kubayi added.
Ms Kubayi touched on the issue of fraud and corruption and pointed out that Department will increase efforts towards disrupting and reducing the effects of organised crime through a multi-stakeholder approach, collaborating closely with key partners, the SAPS, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and Sars. She announced that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) will also enhance its anti-corruption through among others establishing a dedicated Lifestyle Audit Unit as a permanent capability to enhance its mandate in detecting unexplained wealth and preventing corrupt practices. ‘This initiative includes the acquisition of an advanced lifestyle audit analytics tool that will increase efficiency and enable high-quality, evidence-based reporting. The Unit will ensure protection of whistle-blowers and SIU personnel integral to upholding the integrity of anti-corruption efforts,’ Ms Kubayi said.
Ms Kubyai spoke about the transformation of the legal profession. She pointed out that the legal profession is not yet transformed. She added that it is clear that the Generic Codes which ensured that firms receive Level 1 B-BBEE accreditation, despite not being sufficiently transformed, are hopelessly inadequate and unsuitable for the legal profession and its unique characteristics. Ms Kubayi added that the challenge of the Legal Sector Code (LSC) by Norton Rose Fulbright and other big firms is regrettable and indicates that our country still has a long way to go before all of us accept it. ‘South Africa belongs to all of us, black and white.’
Ms Kubayi said that black and female legal practitioners have not had access and opportunities to develop and practice in complex and specialised areas of the law such as commercial law, maritime law, private international law, competition law and the like. That instead, most black and female legal practitioners often practice in the fields of labour, personal injury and family law. She added that this results in black legal practitioners finding it difficult to develop successful and sustainable legal practices. ‘The result is that a large proportion of female legal practitioners, especially black females leave the sector. The Legal Sector Code provides a framework through which the briefing patterns, the ownership patterns and the participation of vulnerable groups such as youth and women will be changed in favour of the previously disadvantaged,’ Ms Kubayi said.
Ms Kubayi said that the Department will ensure that the State Attorney’s allocation of briefs to previously disadvantaged groups and female legal practitioners reach and maintain the targets of 40% and 42% respectively in terms of value. She added that this will significantly transform the briefing patterns of the sector. ‘Honourable members, we will defend the LSC because we believe that the transformation of the legal profession is an absolute must for building a capable state and skills development,’ Ms Kubayi said.
Kgomotso Ramotsho Cert Journ (Boston) Cert Photography (Vega) is the news reporter at De Rebus.
