Impact of court-annexed mediation in South Africa: a developmental perspective

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of court-annexed mediation on access to justice, the efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system, and maximisation of the benefits of court-annexed mediation in South Africa. Alternative dispute resolution has become a recognised approach to dispute resolution around the world, and its mechanisms, particularly, mediation, and arbitration, have evolved into powerful complementary dispute resolution processes for our courts. Therefore, this study was focused on the introduction of court-annexed mediation in the South African Justice system, a) to improve access to justice for the South African public, especially the poor, b) to improve the efficiency of the system and c) to reduce the ever-increasing case backlog in the civil courts amongst others. This desire to conduct the study was based on the premise that people continue to face barriers to justice despite the initiative to implement court-annexed mediation. The primary theories utilized for this research are mediation and social justice theories. Mediation is one of the consensus-building processes in alternative dispute resolution. According to social justice theory, everyone is entitled to equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities. The methodology employed was phenomenology, a qualitative approach, with data collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Sampling was purposive, targeting individuals who had experienced court-annexed mediation, including mediators, individuals familiar with our court processes, and potential users of the service. The focus was on the experiences and preferences of the people of South Africa regarding court-annexed mediation. The study found that challenges raised in the problem statement remain prevalent: Access to justice remains a challenge, and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development initiative to implement court-annexed mediation was not successful. In addition, the court roll remains clogged with extensive backlogs. Furthermore, the study found that the South Africans, indeed, forfeited many benefits due to the failure to implement court-annexed mediation. In other countries, globally and on the African continent, court-annexed mediation has been implemented successfully, and the users have enjoyed its benefits, including the positive impact on their justice systems. The findings of the study enabled the development of a framework for implementing court-annexed mediation in South Africa to solve the pending national problem, to advance the constitutional requirement of access to justice for all and to advance Sustainable Development Goal number 16. All the research questions were answered, and all the study objectives were also achieved.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Zululand

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Mabilo, Ntate Josias

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Masoga, M.A
• M.O Ndlovu,

Licence

• https://uzspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstreams/1f68d973-b4df-4a51-9a0d-d2f5640ce48c/download