Residents of Galeshewe, in Kimberley can now access justice in their local community. This is because the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, with the support from the Department of Public Works, built a court in the local area. The R58 million fully fledged court was officially opened by Minister Jeff Radebe on 31 May 2011.
The court consists of 8 courtrooms, of which one is dedicated for sexual offences, three are district criminal courts and four are family courtrooms.
Speaking at the launch Minister Radebe said "We are fully aware that the long distances travelled by communities to access the nearest court at times coupled with the absence of sustainable public transport, have been some of the barriers preventing us from attaining access to justice for all our people." The court will become an additional court that will serve the Sol Plaatjie local municipality, with Kimberley being the main seat of the magistracy.
The construction of courts in traditional Black areas such as this one as well as in rural villages is part of ensuring that we redress the apartheid legacy of spatial development, where access to government and other services was deliberately skewed in terms of deliberate racial profiling. "In short, in building this court closer to the people, our single aim was to ensure that we bring all the services that this court is meant to offer closer to the people. In doing so, we are fulfilling our guiding policy principle, which is to ensure access to justice to all our people irrespective of race, gender, social status or geographical location," the Minister said.
The launch of the court is also a way the department is ensuring that discrimination is eradicated in all its manifestations. "It is also in this way that we can truly say we are giving meaning to the spirit and letter of our esteemed constitution which remains the bedrock of our democracy as characterised by the various social, economic and political activities that our people are continuously seized with," Minister Radebe explained.
The court, which was built in 2009 and began its operation in 2010, has since dealt with 647 maintenance cases and 1949 domestic violence cases. On average, 1800 beneficiaries receive maintenance at this court every month. It serves a population of over 100 000 residents and offers services ranging from Maintenance; Deceased Estates; Divorce, Protection Order applications; regional criminal matters; Equality and Small Claims cases.