THE Grahamstown High Court Action Committee issued a letter to President Jacob Zuma yesterday to oppose the moving of the Seat of the High Court to Bhisho.
The letter was signed by committee chairman Archbishop Thabo Makgoba. The committee consists of representatives from Rhodes University, NGOs, businesses, churches and lawyers.
THE Grahamstown High Court Action Committee issued a letter to President Jacob Zuma yesterday to oppose the moving of the Seat of the High Court to Bhisho.
The letter was signed by committee chairman Archbishop Thabo Makgoba. The committee consists of representatives from Rhodes University, NGOs, businesses, churches and lawyers.
Attorneys are among those who support the petition. Brin Brody, chairman of Circle Nine, which represents attorneys of the area of Port Alfred, Fort Beaufort and Grahamstown, said, “The Hoexter Commission, appointed by Nelson Mandela, concluded that to move the seat of the High Court to Bhisho would be catastrophic for Grahamstown.
The judges, under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Judge Chaskalson, recommended unanimously that the seat remain in Grahamstown with concurrent jurisdiction.
We are of the view that to move the seat to Bhisho and to reduce the jurisdiction of Grahamstown would be unwise and would have serious consequences for the town.
We sincerely trust that commonsense will prevail.” Mandela appointed a commission under the chairmanship of Justice Hoexter in 1995 to look into the rationalisation of the High Courts in South Africa.
The Hoexter Commission decided that Grahamstown was an “economically depressed city in which unemployment is rife.
We find that the ripple effect of moving the seat of the High Court from Grahamstown would prove crippling to the city.”
Court employees and members of the legal fraternity are concerned about possible job losses and its impact on Grahamstown’s economy.
If the court closes, it is estimated that it will lead to an immediate loss of R23-million for the local economy.
