Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning:
Whether there are any municipal courts in any of the municipal areas in the province; if not, why not; if so, (a) in which (i) municipalities and (ii) towns are they, (b) what cost is involved to such municipalities, (c) how do courts function, (d) what matters do the courts address and (e) what is the resulting work load?
8(a) Municipal Courts are established in the City of Cape Town and Mossel Bay Municipality
8(a)(i) The City of Cape Town municipal courts are situated in the following areas:
Cape Town, Parow, Goodwood, Strand, Blue Downs, Mitchells Plain, Wynberg, Khayelitsha, Atlantis, Simons Town and Somerset West.
The Mossel Bay Municipal Court is situated in Mossel Bay.
8(b) The operational and personnel expenditure relating to Municipal Courts are currently included in the budget of the Legal Services departments. City of Cape Town has a budget of R33 million.
8(c) Municipal courts function like Magistrate Courts established in terms of section 166(d) of the Constitution and subject to the statutory and legal prescripts and rules applicable to Magistrates Courts. The nature of the function requires the Municipal Courts to work closely with the Department of Justice and the National Prosecuting Authority. Municipal prosecutors are employed by the municipality while the magistrate would fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. The relationship between the Department of Justice and the Municipality is regulated by the relevant laws and regulations and by agreement.
8(d) Municipal courts deal with By-law offences as well as offences created in terms of other legislation. Offences would include Traffic matters, National Building Regulations, Land Use Planning, Health Act matters, Environmental Legislation in respect of noise and air pollution and the Road Transportation Act, By-laws offences typically relate to Advertising and Bill Posting, Dog control, Water By-law (Pollution, Illegal Connections) and Electricity.
8(e) The workload at Municipal Courts depends on the volume of By-law contraventions, traffic transgression and hearing cases. Municipal courts also act as a cashier point for payments of traffic and by-law contravention fines. The Municipal Courts alleviate the burden on Magistrates Courts and improve service delivery to residents. City of Cape Town Courts deal with an average of 500 traffic fines and 400 warrants of arrest per day. The fully fledged municipal courts i.e Parow, Cape Town, Goodwood and Strand deal with an average of 100 offences whereas Blue Downs, Mitchells Plain, Wynberg and Khayelitsha deal with an average of 50 offences. Mossel Bay court deal with an average of 250 offences per court date and 2 trials per day.
