Chief Justice Mandisa Maya Warns South Africa’s Courts Are Under Severe Pressure

Chief Justice Mandisa Maya has raised the alarm over the mounting pressure facing South Africa’s judiciary, warning that the system is strained “on almost all fronts.”

She released the annual judiciary reports for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years, revealing that courts across the country are struggling to manage their caseloads.

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Many are failing to finalise matters within the required time frames.

This marks Maya’s first delivery of the annual judicial report as Chief Justice — and the picture it paints is one of a judicial system battling to keep pace with growing demands.

Mandisa Maya: Judiciary Workload Crisis Deepens

According to the reports, South Africa’s courts continue to fall behind, with case backlogs increasing across multiple levels of the system.

Maya highlighted that this struggle to keep up with the workload is affecting overall performance and undermining efficiency.

She pointed out that the Constitutional Court remains the worst performing when it comes to delivering reserved judgements. Only 13% of these judgements were handed down within the prescribed period.

Maya noted that such delays create further complications within the legal system. “These delays, unfortunately, result in uncertainty in the law,” she said.

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