Minister downplays 'insignificant' court delays due to water, power cuts as critics point to dysfunction

South Africa’s courts lost a total of 21 days due to water cuts, electricity cuts, and maintenance challenges in 2024/25, a drop from previous years, which were marked by higher levels of load shedding. 

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi described the 21 days as “insignificant”, but civil society groups have questioned the figure and also point to other challenges leading to court postponements.

Kaylynn Palm, head of civil rights group Action Society, told Daily Maverick on Thursday, 16 October 2025, that “there are undoubtedly countless more instances across the country” where courts lose time to water, electricity and maintenance challenges.

Her comments follow Kubayi’s response to a recent parliamentary question from Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana, asking how many court days have been lost over the past three financial years due to electricity and water outages, and ongoing maintenance failures. He also pressed for clarity on the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure’s role in addressing these challenges.

Kubayi, in her response, stated that the total number of court days lost due to water cuts, electricity cuts and maintenance challenges over the past three financial years was 103 days in 2022/23, 29 days in 2023/24 and 21 days in 2024/25. When compared with the number of days the courts were open, this represents 0.06%, 0.02% and 0.01% respectively.

“These figures suggest an insignificant impact to the total cases postponed,” the minister said.

Gana has refused to take the minister’s figures at face value, saying the next step will be oversight visits to selected courts to verify the accuracy of the data supplied.

Reacting to the minister’s figures, Palm said: “These figures do not at all reflect the full extent of the systemic dysfunction within the courts. Infrastructure maintenance must be a matter of national urgency, not something fixed only after public outrage.”

Dr Shaheda Omar from Teddy Bear Clinic stressed that infrastructure issues had more of an impact: “Of course, I do not agree with the numbers revealed by the minister, they don’t correlate.

“In September, we had 27 postponed cases, in August, four postponed, 22 in July, and that speaks to the different courts that we service in Soweto, Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Randburg and Palm Ridge Court.”

One of the most recent cases where the court was affected by a power outage was the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria in September. The power outage, caused by a trip on an Eskom supply line to the Kwagga substation, affected multiple regions across Pretoria. This was the third time this year that cases had been delayed at this court.

Read more: Gauteng High Court shut as mass Joburg water cuts hit again

‘Water cuts are the new norm’

Explaining what prompted his questions, Gana told Daily Maverick that when he conducted oversight visits and spoke to community members, he found cases being postponed simply because there was no water in the court building. These problems were more common in more rural provinces, where constant delays had become the norm.

Gana questioned the reliability of the minister’s data. Kubayi began her response to Gana by saying: “According to the information provided to me…” 

Gana said this showed that her answers were not based on firsthand information.

“That’s where the problem begins. In some communities, water cuts have gone on for so long that people have stopped complaining and simply accept it as normal.”

He continued: “We’ve heard what the minister said, but we won’t just take it at face value. Our plan is to visit selected courts to verify whether the information she received is accurate, or if it masks underreporting on the ground. We can’t accept those figures as the full truth.”

Omar further added that court infrastructure was not meeting the demands and required needs that the courts were supposed to provide.

“The consequences of these delays are devastating. Every postponed case prolongs the trauma, for both the parent and the child. Victims are forced to relive their pain again and again. There’s no escape for them. Coming to court and telling their stories is never enough,” she said.

On Thursday, 16 October, Palm warned that the repeated closure of courts due to power failures, water shortages and crumbling infrastructure was a clear sign that South Africa’s justice system was under severe strain.

“There are undoubtedly countless more instances across the entire country. These figures do not at all reflect the full extent of the systemic dysfunction within the courts,” she claimed.

Government strategy

In her reply, Kubayi reiterated that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure oversaw all government-owned court facilities.

The minister said: “The department’s mandate includes maintaining court facilities and ensuring municipal accounts are paid on time to prevent water and electricity disruptions. However, load shedding and cable theft continue to affect operations. To mitigate this, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and Justice Department are installing generators and alternative power systems.”

On maintenance, the minister added that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure had developed day-to-day maintenance guidelines and devolved minor capital works projects under R1-million to the Justice Department. However, funding remained a challenge.

She added that the department’s 2025/26 Annual Performance Plan included a target to keep criminal case postponements linked to administrative issues — including water and power outages — below 1%. This target has been met since April 2025.

Kubayi also said the Justice Department and Department of Public Works and Infrastructure had adopted a joint strategy to tackle infrastructure problems and keep courts operational. Key measures included installing alternative water systems, providing generators for identified courts, and rolling out a maintenance programme to restore facilities to health and safety standards.

The interventions were meant to stabilise the court infrastructure environment, minimise disruptions and enable courts to address case backlogs more effectively.

Other delays

Mbekezeli Benjamin, research and advocacy officer at Judges Matter, underlined the worrying impact of infrastructure and basic service breakdowns on court performance, particularly the resultant delays and postponements that made justice elusive for people who relied on the courts. 

He noted, however, that water, power and maintenance issues were not the primary cause of court delays.

“From data we get from the regional magistrates’ courts, the major cause of court delays in criminal cases still remains the lawyers (both the prosecution and defence) and accused persons. In 2024/25, infrastructure breakdowns were only the fifth most common reason for the postponements. However, it is still far too frequent for it to be acceptable. 

“Multiple postponements in criminal cases usually cause trial fatigue among both the accused and the witnesses. This increases the chances of an accused person absconding, and the trial never reaching finality.

“That means sometimes serious crimes go unpunished, simply because the trial has been postponed too many times. This, unfortunately, results in victims being failed by the system and undermines public trust in the criminal justice system.”

Read more: Dying to be heard — gloomy picture of the slow pace of South African courts

He went on to say that delays in delivering judgment usually relate to the judicial officer concerned, although infrastructure breakdowns, such as the non-availability of electricity and water, may lengthen these delays.

“Based on the data we get from the regional magistrates’ courts, court infrastructure breakdowns cause real prejudice to the delivery of justice. Regional Magistrates’ Courts deal with some of the most serious cases, including sexual offences, murder, rapes and even fraud and corruption. 

“Breakdowns in some of the basic court infrastructure, such as court recording machines, or even water and electricity, lead to serious injustices.

“Of the 2,491 breakdowns reported in 2024/25 statistics from the regional courts, 26.3% (655) related to CCTV systems, which are essential for children and sexual-related trials; 25.3% (629) related to digital court recording systems (which are essential for fairness of the trial), and water and electricity accounted for 14.7% (365) and 22.7% (566) respectively.” 

Regardless of the cause, the ultimate impact of such delays was felt by the victims of crime and the wider community, he added. DM