Judiciary reports reveal that SA courts struggling to finalise criminal cases

South African courts have struggled to finalise criminal matters, with recent judiciary reports showing failure to meet targets.

Chief Justice Mandisa Maya delivered annual judiciary reports for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years.

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The report gives an overview of the performance of the judiciary and highlights problem areas.

In the last financial year, only 73% of criminal cases were finalised, just under the 75% target.

Maya has attributed this to the conduct of some accused and their legal representatives, leading to several postponements

"The national target for the reduction of criminal backlogs and finalisation of criminal matters at the high court was not met. Some of the reported reasons being that cases involved multiple accused, trials were lengthy, and matters were complex."