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1.1: A more effective and accessible criminal justice system.
1.2: Effective and democratic local governance
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1.1 A More Effective and Accessible Criminal Justice System
South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world and one of the lowest conviction rates. In the period 2001 to 2002 the South African murder rate was 47.8 per 100,000 people, almost six times higher than the 8.3 murders per 100,000 people in the United States in 2001. Only 6% of reported murders in South Africa result in a guilty verdict.
South Africa’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is an amalgamation of 11 separate departments of justice inherited from the apartheid regime in 1994. Administration was quite antiquated and not yet fully computerized. By the new millennium over one million new cases were being introduced each year into a system ill-equipped to handle the volume. The handling of dockets was so lax that that criminals were often able to bribe corrupt court officials and police officers to go into courthouse files and remove their dockets and destroy them, resulting in their cases being dismissed or postponed. Frequent postponements due to poor case flow management result in the attrition of witnesses, who tired of going needlessly to court. It also denied justice to victims, who out of fatigue and despair likewise ceased to appear. This posed enormous costs to the government in cases that involved paying for the travel and lodging of witnesses. Judges, magistrates and prosecutors still performed routine management and administrative duties that occupied much of their time, detracting from their ability to try cases. The courts were responsible for holding in trust and managing funds for deceased estates, child support payments, and bail. These accounts have not been audited fully since 1957.
Business Against Crime (BAC), which was formed after a personal appeal by then-President Nelson Mandela for the business community to join forces with the government in the battle against crime, is contributing $2.9 million to USAID’s $7.1 million program, a total amount more than matched by the contribution of the Department of Justice (DOJ) of $42.5 million thus far.
With BAC, USAID works in close collaboration with the DOJ, their National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), other specialized justice institutions linked to the Ministry, and selected NGOs in carrying out a program aimed at four interrelated objectives:
Together the four programmatic elements are designed to contribute to a more efficient administration of justice and better protection of the rights of victims.
USAID and BAC assistance to the DOJ targeting the first two of the objectives is directed toward an initiative announced by the Minister of Justice in 2002 that follows the recommendations of a 2001 USAID-funded study. The initiative calls for the restructuring of the DOJ through the institution of an integrated case flow management system, the decentralization of court support services, and the outsourcing of the management of funds held in trust by the courts for child support payments, deceased estates and bail. The restructuring is being rolled out in phases, and will ultimately affect 719 different courts and over 13,000 personnel, some 70% of whom will have to be relocated.
KwaZulu-Natal’s 58 courts were identified for the pilot of the Re Aga Boswa project – “We Are Rebuilding”, the name given the Decentralized Court Support Service program. The creation of an administration structure at the courts is enabling magistrates and prosecutors to focus on adjudicating and prosecuting cases and thereby is reducing case backlogs. When the pilot resulted in savings of $2.7 million for the DOJ in personnel and administrative costs in KwaZulu-Natal, Re Aga Boswa was rolled out to the Free State (77 courts), Western Cape (54 courts) and Gauteng (32 courts), and by mid 2004 had saved the DOJ an additional $1 million.
USAID and BAC support also goes toward developing and implementing an integrated case flow management system that will streamline cases and ensure uniformity of case processing in courts. It is expected that, once operational, it will lead to a decrease in case backlogs and reduce case cycle time. An Integrated Case Flow Management System Manual has been developed and was launched on October 10, 2002. The integrated case flow management system is being piloted in Soshanguve, Durban, Wynburg and Cape High Court. Magistrates and prosecutors in these courts are able to identify and focus on those cases that have been outstanding for a long time. In addition, because magistrates and prosecutors have a sense of the number of cases they need to deal with, they do not allow legal representatives to postpone cases for more than two times. The pilot courts have been able to redefine the roles of different people within the court and have also been able to dedicate most of their efforts in dealing with backlogs. Eventually the program will be rolled out, on an incremental basis, to all 719 courts in the country, and is expected to greatly reduce case backlogs.
USAID and BAC support the establishment of specialized commercial crimes courts where dedicated personnel from the National Prosecuting Authority and the DOJ who have been permanently assigned deal exclusively with commercial crimes including fraud and corruption. Courts exist in Pretoria and Johannesburg and are going to be opened in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and possibly Umtata or Bisho. The courts only deal white-collar crime. Cases heard are so well-prepared that by 2002 the conviction rate was 94%, with 50% of all accused pleading guilty, and 33% of the convicted sentenced to jail with no option of a fine. It is hoped that the innovative use of plea bargaining, which has been largely unknown in South Africa, will spread into the ordinary courts and further assist in reducing case backlogs.
1.2 Democratic and Effective Local Governance
In September 1998 USAID signed a bilateral agreement with the Ministry and Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) for a program to assist the establishment of a democratic local government system. The program provides assistance through three mutually supporting elements aimed at three objectives:
Under the first objective, USAID technical assistance supported the drafting of the 1998 Municipal Structures Act, the 2000 Municipal Systems Act, the 2003 Municipal Finance Management Act and the 2004 Property Rates Act, the laws which give effect to the constitutional vision of transformation through developmental and democratic local government.
USAID funded the design and launch of the Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP), a Web-based system by which all municipalities can share best practices as they are developed. Applied research into issues confronting local governments as well as case studies of local government best practices are compiled and disseminated through the KSP. By the end of 2003 the subscriber list has grown to 3,500 and the website is averaging 550 visitors each month. Through the KSP program USAID also helped sponsor the formation of a district learning network of 16 of South Africa’s 47 district and local councils that undertake peer reviews of one another to find ways of improving governance.
From 2002 to 2004 USAID assisted 93 of South Africa’s 284 metropolitan, district and local municipalities through 24 individualized projects. The 24 separate projects all fell into one or more of the following seven categories:
1. Design training programs for ward committee members, councilors and officials to participate in governance.
2. Develop an integrated tourism marketing plan.
3. Help municipalities develop economic partnerships to manage and coordinate local economic development.
4. Establish regional economic development agencies to stimulate local economic development.
5. Facilitate and assist the council in the development of a local economic development strategy.
6. Develop and install communication and IT systems linking districts with their local councils.
7. Implement a civic education programs targeting youth
Beginning in 2005 and drawing on lessons learned from the above seven types of projects, in a smaller number of selected municipalities USAID will provide funds for programs that:
1.3 Fostering Strategic Partnerships Between Civil Society Organizations and Government
During the 1980s and early 1990s USAID provided support to numerous civil society organizations (CSOs) in the struggle against apartheid. Because of the importance of a healthy and vibrant civil society to democratic consolidation, USAID continues to support the sustainability of the civil society sector in South Africa. After intensive consultation with a wide range of civil society and government partners, USAID developed a program launched in 2000 consisting of three mutually supporting objectives:
USAID has provided assistance to CSOs to make representation in Parliament seeking to increase the number of non-profit activities exempt from taxes and to increase the percentage of income exempt from taxes through charitable giving. These advocacy efforts contributed to the Taxation Laws Amendment Act of 2000 – the first change in the law in nearly 40 years – that gave National Treasury the authority to increase the number of tax exempt activities, which it did, raising the number from 22 in 2000 to 49 by the end of 2003. The amendment gave South African Revenue Service (SARS) the power to determine which NGOs qualify for tax exempt and donor deduction status. Lastly, the amendment equalized annual limits for individual and company donor deductions at R1000 or 5% of annual taxable income, whichever is greater. Between 2001 and 2003 these tax reforms yielded a total net benefit to South African civil society equivalent to $11 million at the prevailing exchange rate. However, fewer than 3,000 of the approximately 35,000 NGOs in South Africa have actually received benefits in terms of tax exemptions. If all NGOs were to qualify and register, the tax savings to be realized would be close to $155 million.
In 2004 USAID will commence a pilot program that will train community-based organizations (CBOs) in 15 of the 93 municipalities where USAID is already providing technical assistance to local government councils. The training will help CBO leaders gain skills to participate effectively in the design and implementation of local development plans and budgets and will also help CBOs make the organizational improvements necessary to qualify for government grants and other forms of support. USAID will also begin training all Democracy and Governance-funded NGOs in strategic planning, financial accounting, and performance-based management.
Lastly, in 2004 USAID will commence a program to assist South Africa to implement its national anti-corruption strategy. The program will