Survey offers comprehensive look at citizens’ engagement with courts

The Northern Cape recorded the highest rate of household court attendance in South Africa, according to the latest Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) 2024/25 released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

Nearly one in five households in the province reported attending court in the past year, with a percentage of 17.5% — followed by the Western Cape with 10.9% and Free State with 10.2%.

The survey, which offers a comprehensive look at citizens’ engagement with the country’s courts and correctional services, found that households attend court for various reasons:

• One of the reasons is visits as the person bringing charges (litigant), which rose from 20% in 2023/24 to 24.1% in 2024/25.
• Attendance as the accused increased from 20.6% to 22.2% over the same period.
• Visits related to civil or administrative matters, such as custody, divorce and eviction, climbed from 14.7% to 17.7%.
• Attendance as a witness dropped from 14.5% in 2023/24 to 9.2% in 2024/25.

In terms of civil and administrative cases, the North West stands out nationally with 37% of households visiting court for such matters, followed by the Northern Cape (27.6%) and Mpumalanga (21%). In contrast, in matters of custody, divorce and eviction, the Free State (11.1%), KwaZulu-Natal (10.9%) and Gauteng (13%) saw a smaller proportion of court visits for civil or administrative reasons.

The Free State leads the country in households attending court as the accused, accounting for 30.5% of visits, followed by the Western Cape (22.8%), Limpopo (22.6%) and Mpumalanga (21.3%). The Northern Cape (15.7%) and North West (17.3%) had the lowest proportions of accused attending court.

Conversations about the justice system remain limited: more than 40% of household heads said they never discuss court-related matters with family or friends, a pattern unchanged since 2018/19

—  Stats SA

In three provinces, being the litigant was the most common reason for attending court. The Western Cape topped the list with 26.2%, KZN followed with 25.4% and Limpopo with 25.3%. The Northern Cape (13.1%) and North West (12.9%) were the least likely to attend court as the initiator of proceedings.

Support for family and friends is another common reason for attending court, peaking in Gauteng (23.5%) and the Northern Cape (22.6%).

Attendance purely out of interest in the outcome of a case remains low nationwide but is highest in the North West (with 13.4%) and Mpumalanga (9.5%).

“In the past year, nearly one in five households in the Northern Cape (17.6%) reported visiting a court — the highest rate in the country,” said Stats SA.

“For most South Africans, getting to a magistrate’s court is relatively manageable, with about 61% saying it takes them less than 30 minutes on average.

“Despite this physical accessibility, conversations about the justice system remain limited: more than 40% of household heads said they never discuss court-related matters with family or friends, a pattern unchanged since 2018/19.”

The survey also revealed that only 3.1% of households had been victims of crimes where the perpetrator was incarcerated in the 2024/25 reporting period.

TimesLIVE