By Musa Mdluli

MBABANE:Lobamba Member of Parliament(MP) Michael Masilela has confirmed a proposed meeting with Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala amid a judicial crisis triggered by, among others, shortage of human resources after the expiry of contracts for Acting Judges, Magistrates and Master of the High Court Assistants.

This comes after this publication reported that, the Judiciary is in crisis and the challenges “are now affecting members of the public who approach the courts for justice”.

Speaking to Swaziland News editor Zweli Martin Dlamini on Tuesday, MP Masilela, the Chairperson of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Portfolio Commitee said, the meeting was supposed to take place today(Tuesday) but unfortunately, some MPs asked for postponement.

The MP was contacted for a comment after senior judicial officers alerted the editor about the intended meeting, that “seeks to find solutions to the ongoing crisis within the justice system”.

In fact the meeting was first confirmed to this publication by Nkilongo MP Petros Sibandze who asked that, an official comment be sought from the Lobamba MP.

“We were supposed to meet the CJ but mine nginguloMncane, lomdzala who can share an official comment is Lobamba MP, the Chairman of the Portfolio Commitee”, said the Nkilongo MP.

On another note, MP Masilela said as Parliament, they “are eager to assist the Chief Justice” address the challenges facing the Judiciary.

“It’s true that,we were supposed to hold a meeting with the Chief Justice just to assist him solve the judicial crisis.But some of the MPs asked for postponement so we will allocate another date”, said the Lobamba MP.

But the crisis within the Judiciary was triggered by the delay in the appointment of the Judicial Service Commission(JSC), CJ Bheki Maphalala “is allegedly grounded and unable to renew contracts for Acting Judges and other judicial officers”, resulting to a backlog of cases.

Efforts to reach Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.

But human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi confirmed that, Magistrate Courts are facing a backlog of cases, he described the delay in the appointment of the JSC as illegal.

“It is illegal for the Judiciary to function without the Judicial Service Commission because as the situation stands,the permanent Judges and Magistrates are facing a backlog of cases and this, is compromising the quality of the judgements. These Acting Judges and Magistrates some who are sitting at home now, were assisting in handling other cases to avoid the backlog”, said the lawyer when responding to this publication.