At present there is a crisis in Gauteng, the province in which half of the civil litigation in the country takes place. Backlogs of cases of all kinds continue to grow apace as the population grows and economic activity increases.

Listen to this article 12 min Listen to this article 12 min The Constitution gives everyone the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a fair public hearing before a court, or, where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum.

Accused persons are entitled to have their trial begin and conclude without unreasonable delay.

These rights can be called into question in the Gauteng high courts situated in Johannesburg and in Pretoria. The old saw "justice delayed is justice denied" is a truism that is applicable to the situation in which those sitting in long queues for hearing find themselves, as too many cases seek the attention of too few judges.

Gauteng is South Africa's smallest province in area, but is home to more people than any other province. It is the economic heartland of South Africa and attracts many migrants because of its fabled bigger and better job opportunities.

Currently, Gauteng's population is approaching 16 million people, well over the official figures for KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape (ranked second and third in population) where the census of 2022 counted 12,423,907 and 7,433,019 people respectively. The national population is...