The committee conducted a walkabout at the office and found rows and rows of files in a room used as a filing facility.
Image: File
The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development has called for urgent action regarding the dilapidated state of the Master of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court.
This comes following the committee's oversight visit earlier this week.
The visit was undertaken to assess service delivery and the state of infrastructure.
The committee noted the rows and rows of files in a make-shift filing room.
"It looks like it would be difficult for anyone to find a file in that room but that is not a major concern. We are worried because there are no fire extinguishers in the room, nor have the smoke alarms in there ever worked. This is a serious hazard, as they a storing valuable documents, hard copies, and if it is lost just imagine how our poor and vulnerable people will struggle," said committee chairperson, Xola Nqola.
The committee has called for urgent action regarding the state of the filing system.
"We have also urged the landlord, which is the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to find a quick solution," Nqola said.
The Master office suffered several cyber security breaches. To this, Nqola was informed that the office has its own servers and this would curb hacking attempts.
"They informed us that fortunately, there was no money lost due to the security breaches. They might not be so lucky next time, so we need to address it speedily," he said.
The visit also extended to the Chatsworth and Umlazi Magistrates courts.
"It is strange that renovations at both courts started at the same time yet only one remains a renovation project years later. The two project started at the same time. One is less than R100 million whilst the other is over R200 million. Yet, you only completed the most expensive one and the Umlazi one remains a renovation project for years. The question then arises, will the people of Umlazi think they are not as important," he stated.
The visits continue this week.
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