State attorney’s office “dysfunctional” and “at war with itself” — employees

Staff at the Johannesburg state attorney’s office to the Department of Justice have written a petition against their working conditions.
Seen by the Sunday Times, the petition describes “a dysfunctional office which is at war with itself, and with its stakeholders” and was signed by 80 of the office’s 110 employees.
It lists the following grievances:
- A workload where staff are “collapsing under the pressure”
- A lack of support from management
- “Cumbersome process[es]” for briefing advocates
- Incompetent and inexperienced advocates
- Delays in processing invoices
- “Systems collapse”
“We cannot go on like this any further. When a matter is not attended to correctly, judges criticise us as state attorneys,” said the petition.
The petition cites a recent judgement by Gauteng deputy judge-president Roland Sutherland, where he said a state attorney’s handling of a case was “disgraceful.”
“The people of South Africa are ill-served by public servants who, in spending other people’s money, do not take proper care,” said Sutherland in his judgement. “Such people who are responsible for this degree of dereliction ought not to be in office.”
The attorneys said that they must correct work by advocates and even “be their mentors.” Due to this extra responsibility, their other work piles up and becomes “unmanageable.”
On average, said the petition, Johannesburg state attorneys have 600–1,000 active files.
Making matters worse is the fact that Justice Minister Ronald Lamola previously acknowledged the “dire” state of the state attorney’s office in 2019.
He warned that “government civil litigation, if not handled well, can prove to be a major threat to a country’s fiscal liability.”
However, the changes implemented as a result of Lamola’s interjection reportedly only resulted in more red tape and worse quality of service.
Offices in disarray
This is not the first instance of state employees complaining about their working conditions at major offices.
In February, the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) national head office in Telkom Towers, Pretoria, was declared unfit for human use and had to be evacuated immediately.
This followed complaints from police employees to Solidarity. The offices were dirty and contaminated, as well as the following:
- The offices had a shortage of clean drinking water
- There was poor and broken air conditioning and ventilation
- Some of the toilets were broken and dirty
- Some emergency exits were closed or unmarked
- Lifts were broken
- Fire-fighting equipment was inadequate
Solidarity’s Occupational Health and Safety division sent letters to SAPS and Lieutenant-General S.W. Chamane that were unanswered, so an inspector from the Department of Labour joined Solidarity in a visit to the premises.
After this visit, the Department of Labour shut the office down due to contravening many parts of the OHS Act.
Solidarity deputy general secretary of public industry, Helgard Cronjé, was shocked that the country’s official law enforcers could not comply with basic security legislation.
“Minister Cele can use police money and time to fly with a police helicopter to the ANC’s manifesto launch in Durban, but back home, the head office is completely dilapidated,” Cronjé said.
“What are the priorities — ANC politics or the safety of citizens? I think the answer is obvious.”