Asked by ANC MP and JSC member Soviet Lekganyane about the importance of mediation in a province that faces traditional leadership disputes, Ngobeni said alternative dispute resolution was essential in the restoration of justice.
“And costs are saved. If relationships between the villagers are restored, there won’t be any need for aggrieved villagers to take the matter to court and spend money on legal representatives. The matter will be resolved,” she said.
In 2012 she visited UC Hastings University in California, US, where she was inspired by seeing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediating court proceedings.
“When I came back, I spoke to the head of the court, the chief magistrate and the University of Limpopo. I made a proposal to them and fortunately they acceded to the proposal. I arranged for final-year students at the University of Limpopo who are studying ADR to get an opportunity to come to the Mankweng magistrate’s court, while I was still there, and mediate in small claims court cases. I had to supervise the process,” she said.
While she has 23 years’ experience as a regional court magistrate and a magistrate, she possesses 14 weeks’ experience as an acting judge in the Limpopo High Court, gained periodically from August 2023 to August this year.
None of her judgments have gone for appeal, except in one matter where the facts of the case were misaligned. However, the matter was struck off the court roll as the facts of the case between the plaintiff and the defendant were disputed.
Rorisang Kgosana
www.timeslive.co.za
