Day 60/100
There are 2 teams working on the NSPGBVF Pillar 3 localisation on justice, safety and protection for survivors of GBV and Femicide victims and their families, and effectively holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.
In Bloemfontein, the team is focussed on the Maintenance Court. Specifically, reducing the backlog in maintenance cases. We all know that failure to pay maintenance is a form of GBV known as financial abuse which is prevalent in our communities. They have identified two goals 1) to identify all the backlog cases in the maintenance court and finalise 75% of these cases within 100 days, and 2) to improve the finalisation rate of maintenance cases. The first step was to undertake a screening process to screen 359 maintenance files to assess what is on the control and come up with an action plan and a strategy to improve the finalisation rate. Forty-nine backlog cases were identified, and by the end of April, 29 of these had been finalised, 60%. “We obviously won’t stop at 75% if we get to that, and we will aim for 100%,” said Ernst Van Rensburg, the team’s mentor. The finalisation rate was previously around 51% which shows that the strategies are paying off.
They are also looking at doing one or two public outreach campaigns which were not part of the initial objectives. Van Rensburg, the team’s mentor, said that the weekly meetings to discuss the issues and refine the strategy has played a huge role in ensuring that the team has kept on finalising the matters. “I think it just enhanced the existing process that we had in place. We have the same resources that we had previously, but I think it’s just a collaborative effort and we just work more cleverly with the resources that we have available,” he said.
“Obviously there were some issues with working together and getting everyone on board, especially the first few meetings and the first few activities. But we’ve sorted that out to a large extent,” he concluded.
“I think the current teams are pioneers that create this example of what is possible as we work together,” said Jakkie Wessels, Regional Court President Limpopo Regional Division and 100-Day Challenge veteran.
For questions or to arrange an interview with any of the team leaders, please contact Candice Ludick on [email protected] or 060 715 3607.