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Programme Director, Deputy Minister Zondi, Honourable Mayor of Moqhaka, Mr Lebona, distinguished guests, members of the extended Justice and Public Works families, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for inviting me to celebrate this important occasion with you. I am deeply honoured and it is a pleasure to celebrate the opening of this new and splendid court building with the community of Kroonstad.

My presence here, for the second time in just six months, to open another Justice facility is yet another example of the steady strides that government is making towards improved service delivery. In March I opened a Justice Centre here in Kroonstad and every official opening of another facility of this nature is a step towards the realisation of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development's transformation and rationalisation process.

Clearly the Department is committed to ensuring that this area of the Free State and other areas outside the major urban centers are provided with necessary modern infrastructure required to ensure that Justice is properly dispensed and more importantly that it reaches those who need it the most, that is, women children. For this great contribution to our communities throughout the country, I would like to thank the Director-General, Vusi Pikoli.

A few years ago after a preliminary audit of the infrastructure in our courts, we vowed to continue to incorporate community outreach programmes and address the need for proper accommodation and other facilities in our courts, especially in the previously marginalised areas within the Department's budgetary constraints. We placed priority on the upgrading and building of new in order to boost the sagging staff morale and to enhance innovation and creativity.

We have therefore undertaken to bring the majority of these facility projects to previously disadvantaged rural and urban areas of the country, where there is an acute need for courts and related facilities for the dispensation of justice. This will even out the distribution of infrastructure within communities and enhance our ability to provide improved access to justice for all.

Historically the bias has been in favour of the more populated metropolitan areas. We, as government, have taken a conscious decision that there should, as far as possible, be an equalisation between facilities provided in urban and rural areas. Various offices throughout the country have been identified as the most viable options, whereby our model courts can be established in the near future. These courts have already begun to set the standard for other courts in terms of being people-friendly buildings, which immediately emanate a sense of security, while at the same time are easily accessible to communities, and equipped with adequate facilities for officials, the legal fraternity, witnesses, women, children and the public in general and people awaiting trial. And I genuinely believe that we are on target to have enough user-friendly courts nationwide

We are still committed to our primary challenge, that is, to provide well-managed courts, both civil and criminal, which are user-friendly, service orientated and run according to the value of our Constitution.

I therefore appeal to the local community to take ownership of this facility and ensure that the building remains the pride of the people of Kroonstad. Former US President Jimmy Carter describing the law and justice had the following to say: "The law is not the private property of lawyers, nor is justice the exclusive province of judges and juries. In the final analysis, true justice is not a matter of courts and law books, but of a commitment in each of us to liberty and mutual respect."

Similarly, for this building to help meet the various justice needs of the community within which it is located, has to be respected. All of us, not just the lawyers and the justice officials working here, need to be committed to making it work. I would therefore urge all of you to take an active interest in its maintenance so that it may remain as one of the most outstanding features on the physical landscape of this town. As a treasured working institution this court will go a long way towards enhancing service delivery that is in line with the Batho Pele principle that our government has embraced.

This court and other similar facilities are important cogs that make up government's commitment to ensuring that rural poor, especially women and children are the foremost beneficiary of development and transformation of our legal system.

Our courts, especially the magistrates' courts, provide a significant interface between the justice system and the people. Our performance here is a telling indicator of our ability to deliver a socially just and equitable society. It is here that the people will judge our efforts and commitment to the Constitution and to the nation.

Therefore our officials, often the first point of contact between the public and the justice system, should also conduct themselves and carry out their duties in a professional manner, yet sensitised to the needs of the public at large. The term "professional" is often abused. Claims of "professionalism" in the legal (and other) sectors have more to with achieving a degree or some other qualification and very little to do with excellence, a sense of integrity and quality service delivery. Professionalism is not something you get with your degree; it is a state of mind. Achieving a professional status, like respect, is earned through hard work.

The main beneficiaries of a professional service rendered by our courts and related justice centres will without doubt and rightfully so, be the majority of our citizens, the aged, the abused, and the marginalised. The point I am making here is that the government can and will continue to deliver legal frameworks and physical infrastructure - courts and justice centres- but it is the people working at those points of delivery that will determine the quality of the services provided by those institutions.

We need to build and forge the links between your community and government by, for example, setting up volunteer groups that support your courts. Victim support networks and maintenance assistance forums are extremely worthy or your support. After all, delivery in these areas touches the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of our society, namely children and women. Become advocates of democracy by giving your time and energy to your community.

A very good example of volunteer participation is the Small Claims Courts system. Throughout the country, legal practitioners give free, after hours time to these courts, which play an extremely important role in promoting access to justice, making justice more affordable and reducing caseload congestion. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the legal profession for this invaluable contribution. I would like to appeal to you here in this area that should also consider doing the same. Your contribution, as I mentioned earlier, is not for the benefit of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development or government for that matter, it for the communities that you live in.

It is small things like volunteering to perform some free work that make a difference in our communities. What each one of us needs to do is well captured in the words of American journalist and critic, Henry Mencken when he remarked that: "If you want peace, work for justice."

Communities also need to rally around those institutions in their immediate environments that support the justice delivery process by supporting the courts as victim support counsellors, participating in public forums and by dedicating voluntary time each week to public causes and those less privileged than ourselves.

I hope that all of you here at the Kroonstad Magistrate's Court will strive to become a centre of excellence in the administration of justice. I wish you well in your endeavours. You can be assured of our support.

I would also like to take this occasion to thank all of you for joining this morning in celebrating another milestone of delivery to the people of Kroonstad and the Free State. On behalf of my department and government as a whole I want to express our gratitude to all the members of this community, the responsible officials of my department and all who participated in the planning and construction of this new Court. Well done and congratulations to all of you! This building will remain a symbol of great pride and a legacy for future generations!

Thank you

Source: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (http://www.doj.gov.za)