Ga-Kgapane Magistrate’s Court: 56 backlogged domestic violence cases cleared in 100 days

A domestic violence matter that drags past three months stops being a legal process and becomes a second ordeal. At Ga-Kgapane, 56 cases sat in backlog, and the two things holding them there were both outside the court's direct control: incomplete returns of service from SAPS, and applicants who could not give an accurate address for the respondent. A file cannot move if nobody can be found to serve.

The 100-Day goal

Bring the average finalisation time for domestic violence matters below 90 days.

The results

All 56 backlogged cases were resolved inside the 100 days.

Who did the work

The court’s domestic violence team, working alongside SAPS, the judiciary and the stakeholders who sit in the Court and Case Flow Meetings.

How they did it

The team started with the return of service, because that was the choke point. They made the working relationship with SAPS an explicit objective rather than an assumption, and when incomplete returns kept arriving they took the problem into Court and Case Flow Meetings instead of absorbing it quietly. Naming the blockage in a forum where everyone was present is what shifted it.

They then set a target close date for every domestic violence matter and told every stakeholder what it was. A shared deadline is harder to let slip than an internal one.

The judiciary backed this by issuing firm return dates rather than open ones, which removed the drift that lets a matter reappear months later.

On the address problem, the team stopped treating incorrect details as the applicant’s error and started treating it as an information gap they were responsible for closing, explaining at the point of application why the address decides whether the case moves.

Weekly team meetings held it together, with tasks delegated and progress checked rather than assumed.

What continues

The relationships built with SAPS and the judiciary outlast the sprint and are the harder thing to replace. Firm return dates and target close dates are now practice. The team also reports positive community response at outreach events, which matters for a court that depends on people coming forward in the first place.

Share the Post:

Thought starter reflection questions

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:
  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
  • How would you characterise the level of trust among participants in the meeting? To what extent did this shift as the meeting progressed? To what do you attribute this shift, if indeed it happened?

Thought starter...

Reflection Questions 

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:

  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
These are 100-Day Challenge Mentors. 

They did some work before you received the Challenge Note. This included:

  • Writing the Challenge Note, and making sure that the leaders of all the organisations represented on the team are comfortable with it – and committed to supporting the work of the team
  • Helping the leaders of these organisation recruit you and your colleagues to the team
  • Gathering some baseline data and other information that will help you and your teammates set your 100-Day goal and develop your plan.
  • Making sure all the preparations are made for a successful Lift-Off workshop, when you and your teammates will meet and get your 100-Day Challenge started. This includes venue, facilitation support, food, swags, comms, travel arrangements and whatever else is needed.

 

Mentors will participate in all or part of the Lift-Off Workshop, mostly at the start to provide context and answer questions, and at the end to give you and your teammates feedback about the goal and plan you develop.

During the 100 days following the Lift-Off Workshop, here’s what the Mentors will do:  

  • They will check in every two weeks with the team leaders to see how the team is doing and what support they and the team need.
  • They will keep other organisational leaders informed and engaged during the 100 days, and pull them in to help as needed.
  • They will participate in the last part of the Refuelling Workshop, halfway through the 100 days, to see what additional support the team needs, and to begin to plan with the team for sustainability and scale-up.
  • They will work with the team at the Sustainability Workshop to finalise recommendations on sustaining the results and building on the work of the team.