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71 sheriffs appointed countrywide

The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Jeff Radebe, has appointed 71 sheriffs to fill 76 of the 119 vacant offices of sheriffs countrywide.

Western Cape regional head of the Justice Department, advocate Hishaam Mohamed who also manages sheriff appointments, told De Rebus that the newly appointed sheriffs reflect the demographics of the country in respect of race and gender. Of the 71 appointed sheriffs, there are 47 Africans, representing 66%; 11 whites, representing 16%; 6 coloureds, representing 8% and 7 Indians, representing 10%.

In terms of gender, 18 women and 53 men were appointed, representing 25% and 75% respectively. They will take office on 1 October 2013, after completing a mandatory induction training programme.

Mr Mohamed said that although female representation had increased, it was nowhere near where the department would like it to be. He added that the department’s ultimate goal is to have female representation at at least 50%.

The new appointments bring the total number of permanent sheriffs currently operating in the country from 298 to 365. Of the 365 sheriffs, 175 are white (48%), 139 are African (38%), 27 are Indian (7%) and 24 are coloured (7%). Of the total sheriffs, the 82 female and 283 male sheriffs represent 22% and 78% respectively. This has resulted in a 9% increase in black persons (Africans, Indians and coloureds).

Mr Mohamed told De Rebus that a few candidates were appointed at more than one office, especially in cases where the courts in small towns were in close proximity, hence the appointment of only 71 persons for 76 vacancies.

Mr Mohamed said that not all 119 vacancies could be filled because too few applications were received. He said that the remaining 43 vacant offices were in small towns and that the department would be combining the positions if the proximity of the courts allowed it to do so. The department will also be re-advertising the vacancies by the end of September.

Mr Mohamed added that s 6 of the Sheriffs Amendment Act 14 of 2012 makes provision for Minister Radebe to appoint state officials to act as sheriffs and serve documents for courts where there are no sheriffs. He added that, in the interim, acting sheriffs had been appointed for the remaining 43 vacancies.

According to a press release issued by the department, there were 465 sheriffs operating nationally before 1994. Of the 465, 443 were male, which represented 95,27% and 22 were female. The racial demographics of the 465 sheriffs were:

• 414 whites or 89,03%;

• 44 Africans or 9,46%;

• 5 coloureds or 1,08%; and

• 2 Indians or 0,43%.

A moratorium was placed on the permanent appointment of sheriffs in 2005 to allow time to amend the regulations relating to sheriffs to bring them in line with constitutional imperatives and to do an audit on the profession. The moratorium was lifted in September 2011.

Mr Mohamed said that when the department conducted an audit of the sheriffs’ profession in 2009, the audit showed that of the 546 sheriffs, 76% were white, 24% were black and women comprised only 9%.

During August 2012, after the moratorium on the appointment of sheriffs fell away, Minister Radebe appointed 124 new sheriffs of which:

• 61 (49,2%) were African;

• 44 were white (35,5%);

• 12 were coloured (9,7%); and

• 7 were Indian (5,6%).

With 40 women appointed, women represented 32% of the new appointees and men, after 84 appointments, represented 68%.

Mr Mohamed said that, as of December 2012, there were 418 sheriff offices countrywide but only 298 of these offices were filled with permanent sheriffs. ‘Of the 298 sheriffs, only 21% (or 63) were women,’ he said.

Mr Mohamed told De Rebus that sheriffs have an important role in the criminal justice system as they act as third parties to serve court process and execute warrants and orders of the court.

Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele,

nomfundo@derebus.org.za

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