Hilma Nalupe
The daily operations of the magistrate courts around the country came to a standstill this week as magistrates embarked on an industrial action over poor working conditions.
It was not business as usual, as proceedings that normally start at 09h00 only began after 14h00. Additionally, no bail hearings or trial proceedings are taking place, resulting in matters being postponed.
The Magistrate and Judges Association members have been meeting with officials from the Magistrates Commission, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Finance on Wednesday and yesterday to address magistrates’ concerns over poor remuneration, promotions, safety, and poor institutional support. In the meantime, magistrates will continue with a go-slow, which is a partial stoppage of work, until an amicable solution is reached during the negotiations.
The Office of the Judiciary previously issued a statement on Tuesday, imploring magistrates to refrain from proceeding with any industrial action while proceedings are underway, but this was not heeded. No comment was given by the Office of the Judiciary as the Deputy Director of Public Relations was unreachable at the time of going to print.
Members of the public were left frustrated at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday and without clear direction.
Nathan Damens, who was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, was left frustrated as he had to go to court on both Wednesday and yesterday, which yielded no results. “I need to conclude my business with the court, so that I am able to travel back to Swakopmund,” he said.
Another member of the public who was at the magistrate’s court to get married and had been waiting since morning, was very disappointed that the court did not forewarn them, and they had wasted their time by showing up. “There are many logistics that go into planning for this day. Now we are inconvenienced. My fiancé, myself and our witnesses had to take leave for this day, now we might have to reschedule.”
“Some of us have to spend a lot of money to come to Windhoek to appear in court and now we have to spend all day at the magistrate’s court every day, where nothing is happening. If we leave and they start and our names are called out, we risk having warrants of arrest being issued in our names for violating the court rules,” he said. Dr Asteria Pirola, who was also waiting at the magistrate’s court, said the situation with the magistrates is not sending a very good message on how the justice system in Namibia is run.
She believes that demands can still be met without affecting the lives of the public.
“These aspects do not reflect well on the justice system. This will send a message that this is the approach that you need to follow to have a salary increment across other professions and if that will be the tendency, then it will be very problematic. People have received salary increments before, without frustrating the public,” she said.