MAGISTRATES TO USE CITY COUNCIL OFFICES

MBABANE – The shortage of courtrooms at the Mbabane Magistrates Court has seen magistrates being allocated working space outside the court premises.
Some judicial officers have been allocated working spaces at the Mbabane Municipal Council offices while others will be working from the Mbabane National Court.

Before the relocation, the judicial officers shared the courtrooms, resulting in the delay of cases and subsequent backlog.
Some cases were postponed due to the delays.
The latest developments regarding the situation at the magistrate courts were confirmed by the Chief Justice (CJ), Bheki Maphalala, during a tour at the Mbabane Municipal Council yesterday.

Agreement

In his brief remarks, the CJ said there was an agreement between the Judiciary and council to turn the chambers into a magistrates court.
Maphalala said they decided to engage the municipality concerning the facilities because the country was running short of courtrooms.
He said the shortage of courtrooms resulted in backlog of cases as some judicial officers had no working spaces.

The CJ said they would appreciate to operate at the municipal chambers from Monday to Friday.
Maphalala toured the council chambers with officials from the High Court.
They were accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of the municipality, Gideon Mhlongo, and Director of Corporate Affairs Bongani Dlamini. Also present were other Council officials working under the Legal Department.

CEO Mhlongo said he was pleased with the arrangement they had with the Judiciary. 
He stated that council also had a lot of internal cases they dealt with on a day to day basis.

However, Dlamini mentioned that they used the chambers for fixed council sittings, adding that every last Tuesday of the month, council held special meetings.
Further, he said there were also random fixed council sittings. The director of corporate affairs said they were yet to revisit their schedule as council.

Meanwhile, Magistrate Lenhle Zulu will be using the Mbabane National Court on Thursdays and Fridays starting this week. Accused persons set to appear before Magistrate Zulu have been made aware of the latest developments.

Those who are in custody will be taken straight to the national court. 
Worth noting is that the upgraded national court remains vacant on Thursdays and Fridays as the court presidents deal with cases from Monday to Wednesday.
On Thursdays, the Mbabane National Court deals with civil matters, which do not require much space.

The Mbabane National Courtrooms almost meet the standards of magistrates court as it has chambers.
Mbabane National Court Clerk Velaphi Dlamini confirmed the latest developments. Dlamini stated that the judicial officers engaged them over the working space. “It is true that some magistrates would be using the Eswatini National Court on Thursdays and Fridays. Prosecutors were here to confirm that they would be using the courtrooms starting this week,” Dlamini said.

However, he said the judicial officers have been offered one courtroom as it met the standards.  Worth noting is that the Judiciary has revived Lobamba Circuit court which operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Judiciary had also appointed acting magistrates to deal with the cases.

Shortage

The shortage of courtrooms and chambers is not unique to the Mbabane Magistrates Court.
This publication reported last month that a senior magistrate has been forced to use his vehicle as an office due to the shortage of structures at the Manzini Magistrates Court.

Magistrate Dumisa Mazibuko was captured working inside his vehicle.
He had all his important documents which he uses as a judicial officer.
The magistrate was seen seated in the vehicle, a Toyota Hilux double cab.

A traffic police officer, Constable Zewula, who is always tasked with fetching magistrates from their chambers before court sessions resume, was seen walking up to the parking lot where Mazibuko’s vehicle had been parked.
The officer had been ordered to get the magistrate to work on some of the fresh matters.

This state of affairs was frowned upon by the Law Society of Swaziland (LSS) which said traditionally, the country relied on open courts and using chambers was an exception.

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