‘Courts not ready to be operating’
A shortage of masks, sanitisers and gloves, as well as no temperature screening at entrance points, were just some of the concerns raised by Port Elizabeth court staff who returned to work for the first time yesterday since the start of the lockdown.
And from prosecutors to lawyers and clerks, they all agreed on one thing court is not ready to be operating.
While criminal trials have not yet resumed at the Port Elizabeth High Court, at the lower courts in North End and New Brighton, part-heard matters and fresh cases (arrests from the weekend) were phased in from yesterday.
But as time goes on, the court roll is expected to get busier. One lawyer said he had simply refused to walk into the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court building in North End yesterday and had instead arranged telephonically for his trial to be postponed.
A senior prosecutor at the same building said members of the public some not even wearing masks were loitering outside the building and in the passageways.
There were no social distancing measures in place, he said.
The prosecutor, who is not permitted to speak to the media, said members of the police
interacting directly with the detainees were in and out of the prosecutors’ offices and the security staff were not all wearing their masks as required.
“I will put my money on court closing one of these days,” he said. “They should actually just test the court personnel now and get it over with.”
The worried wife of a court clerk was equally horrified by what she saw when she dropped her husband off at work.
She said members of the public were queuing outside the front door with little to no space between them.
At the door, they were asked to fill in a form, all using the same pen, before entering the building.
“Now imagine how many people touched that pen and paper,” the woman said.
“No temperatures are being taken and as far as we know the building has not even been sanitised.”
A district court prosecutor said they were informed that court management had called a meeting to discuss the issues raised.
He agreed that the building had not yet been sanitised.
“We are definitely not ready to deal with the public.
“Today, the St Albans Prison sent its prisoners over without any masks.”
At the New Brighton Magistrate’s Court, a clerk said they were still waiting on management to address them on a way forward.
She said while they were asked to sanitise their hands when they entered the building, there were no other screening measures and that many of them were reusing masks given to them before the lockdown.
They had also not received any gloves.
“It is pandemonium here in the passage, with everyone treating it like a catch-up session,” she said, adding that, in her opinion, the court was not ready to be operating.
“We don’t even have a Covid-19 plan in place.
“The government keeps mentioning what companies need to implement before operating, but there is no mention about us.”
Staff at the Commercial Crimes Court in Old Grahamstown Road, where the senior state advocates are also based, had a different view. They said sanitisers had been provided as well as masks and gloves and they were satisfied with the measures in place.
Another prosecutor at the New Brighton court said, at this stage, only members of the public who absolutely had to attend court were supposed to be allowed into the building, yet the corridors were full of people, none of whom had been screened.
The woman said prior to the lockdown they were provided with some disposable masks and had since then only been given a flimsy, thin material mask.
Justice and correctional services spokesperson Chrispin Phir confirmed a request for comment, but had not responded to questions by the time of going to print.