The seat of the High Court is to be moved away from Grahamstown to the province’s capital, Bhisho. The announcement was made during a farewell dinner held for outgoing Eastern Cape Judge President Cecil Somyalo.
The seat of the High Court is to be moved away from Grahamstown to the province’s capital, Bhisho. The announcement was made during a farewell dinner held for outgoing Eastern Cape Judge President Cecil Somyalo.
Many Grahamstown residents were stunned by the announcement and view this move as unnecessary, believing that there will be a negative effect on the economic climate of Grahamstown. Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart was equally taken aback by the news and said that she had not received any official statement
informing her of the announcement and therefore could not make an official statement.
However, she said that she would “discuss the implications of this with the Mayor” as it is certain to affect
job creation. Grahamstown resident Ayabulela Hanise said, “I’m concerned about whether the cleaning staff will lose their jobs, as it will be easier for the attorneys to relocate to Bhisho. Grahamstown’s unemployment rate will certainly rise.”
Albany Sports Owner Campbell Westcott said that the move of the seat of the High Court would be “catastrophic” and in his view, it is a short sighted decision. “This is based on the fact that a High Court has been in Grahamstown for many years” and many of the attorneys and advocates who depend on the services offered by the local businesses, form a large percentage of the “affluent market” in Grahamstown. “There is a figure of 70% unemployment in the township,” Westcott said, adding that the figure will
surely rise when the move takes place.
Steve Birt, Manager of Sotheby’s International Reality in Grahamstown and Port Alfred said he was involved in the same situation in 1985 when the Ciskei was dismantled and consequently led to attempts to move the High Court seat from Grahamstown to Bhisho.
“Hopefully the municipality will see the implications of it and agitate for it not to happen,” he said. High Court Unit Manager of Legal Aid South Africa, Helen McCallum explained that the High Court seat in Grahamstown will not be closing down totally, but will become the local seat of Bhisho, with Bhisho becoming the main seat of the High Court for the Eastern Cape.
The jurisdiction of Grahamstown will therefore be decreased. She added that the Superior Courts Bill had been drafted a while back. The move will therefore not happen immediately as the Act still has to be passed in Parliament. “But since the announcement has been made it seems clear that what has been proposed will bring about changes to the legal fraternity in Grahamstown,” she said.
While not certain what this move will mean for their firm, she said that, “at the worst, we foresee a minimal downsize of our High Court Unit”. McCallum said that they would probably be less affected than private firms, as they run independently of the government and receive their resources from the government.
She further mentioned that there will be a meeting on 3 May, to which all the firms in town have been invited to discuss the issue as well as the implications surrounding the announcement.
