To the Portfolio Committee March 2006 Chief Masters Report To the Portfolio Committee March 2006

SERVICE POINT STATISTICS OFFICE TOTAL 2004 ESTIMATED TOTAL 2005 % GROWTH KIMBERLEY 685 1603 134% PORT ELIZABETH 1784 2374 33% BISHO 2479 2345 -54% THOHOYANDO 770 1620 110% PIETERMARITZBURG 2550 6886 170% PRETORIA 3928 9098 132% BLOEMFONTEIN 5545 9554 72% MAFIKENG 4746 5314 12% POLOKWANE 4015 8928 122% GRAHAMSTOWN 2601 2714 4% UMTATA 6812 10270 51% DURBAN 14470   New Office JOHANNESBURG 9658 CAPE TOWN 1200 2671 123% 37115 87505 136 % 2004: Reflects the statistics of estates (below R50 000) reported at service points on behalf of the Master, after the implementation of the Moseneke case. Does not include the estates reported under the Black Administration Act 2005: Reflects statistics of all estates (below R50 000) reported at service points on behalf of Master, after the implementation of the Bhe case. The Black Administration Act has been declared unconstitutional and all estates now fall under the supervision of the Master. It does not reflect an increase of people dying as these statistics were previously part of the Magistrate’s statistics The dramatic increase is due to the Bhe judgement. In the main, we are finding that the increase in workload comes about through complaints against wrong allocations and queries from the public.

Comparisons YEAR DECEASED BUDGET 2004 82802 112 2005 145335 116 Reasons for the increase in workload: refer to notes under service point statistics. reflects the implications of the implementation of the Bhe decision declaring the Black Administration Act unconstitutional . All estates fall now under the supervision of the Master. This includes the service point statistics. There might even be an increase next year as some Magistrates continued to issue appointments under the Black Administration Act as they were not informed in time of the Bhe decision.

Comparisons YEAR INSOLVENCY 2004 5944 2005 4741

Growth in the Guardian’s Fund   Annual Growth in Funds B/F 01/04/2002 2002/03 % 2003/04 2004/05 Gauteng (Pretoria) R 528,669,689 R 133,292,906 25.2% R 211,401,860 31.9% R 146,840,986 16.8% KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg) R 452,917,945 R 94,491,424 20.9% R 146,369,153 26.7% R 136,365,029 19.7% Eastern Cape (Grahamstown) R 106,444,649 R 83,568,464 78.5% R 50,703,377 R 59,639,018 24.8% Free State (Bloemfontein) R 147,424,571 R 32,456,360 22.0% R 50,721,359 28.2% R 34,153,861 14.8% Western Cape (Cape Town) R 173,640,201 R 28,187,756 16.2% R 29,021,021 14.4% R 17,490,023 7.6% Northern Cape (Kimberley) R 37,154,082 R 3,703,993 10.0% R 12,331,666 30.2% R 6,406,537 12.0% Total R 1,446,251,137 R 375,700,903 26.0% R 500,548,436 27.5% R 400,895,454 17.3% R 1,821,952,040 R 2,322,500,476 R 2,723,395,930   No of Payments % of Total KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg) 6795 31% Eastern Cape (Grahamstown) 4271 19% Freestate (Bloemfontein) 3649 17% Gauteng (Pretoria) 3012 14% Northern Cape (Kimberley) 2259 10% Western Cape (Cape Town) 1968 9% Total (5½ months) 21954 100% Analysis note: GROWTH: The Guardian’s Fund is currently standing at ±R3,5m, which is an increase of 29% in the last year. (Final figures can not be provided, as the GF is busy balancing their books for the end of the financial year) This constitutes an increase of 142% since 1/4/2002! This increase may be an indication of the following: People are dying at a younger age, leaving heirs who are still minors – therefore the money is deposited into the GF As the bulk of the deposits comes from National Treasury, being Pension Benefits payable after death – it may be an indication that Public Servants are not educated to know how to deal with their Pension Benefits at time of death People not leaving wills indicating what should happen to the inheritance of a minor heir- therefore any cash inheritance must be deposited into the GF Because of the Moseneke and BHE-decisions, the Master is now dealing with more Black Estates. More Black people are coming into the formal economy, having pension benefits etc, but are not informed properly how to deal with these assets in a will etc. And because the intestate succession act is now applicable – their minor children will inherit in stead of the family member who would have inherited i.t.o the Black Administration Act previously-meaning that the money will be deposited into the GF. Further concerns are: 1)Most of the beneficiaries in the GF do not have biological parent looking after them, either because both are already dead, or the surviving parent is untraceable by the family. 2)Claims for maintenance etc are being lodged by family members looking after the minors who are not appointed as their legal guardians 3) The shows also that more and more minor children are left without parents/legal guardian’s to help protect their interests 4)The Master does not have the capacity to trace beneficiaries – which means that if money is deposited for a minor, and the person looking after the minor is not aware thereof, no financial support can be given to such a child, as we only the advertise the unclaimed funds after it became claimable at normally age 21. NO PAYMENTS: If looking at the number of payments made in each of the offices during 2005 in comparison with the size of the fund in every office – it needs to be clarified. The offices with the bigger funds (eg. Pretoria) are paying out maintenance once every six months for instance, while the smaller office like Kimberley, is paying out maintenance monthly, thus more frequently.

Current Staffing 997 683 314 32% Total Staff Permanent Temporary   Total Staff Permanent Temporary % of Temp staff Chief Master's Office 45 26 19 42% Nelspruit 6 Johannesburg 89 52 37 Pretoria 286 216 70 24% Cape Town 127 102 25 20% PE 15 11 4 27% Grahamstown 63 18 29% Bisho 10 8 2 Bloemfontein 67 43 24 36% Kimberley 21% Pietermaritzburg 166 94 72 43% Thohoyandou 33% Polokwane 17 14 3 18% Mafikeng 38 32 16% Mthatha 7 64% Durban 21 66% Totals 997 683 314 32%

Issues Requiring Attention

Issues Requiring Attention Physical Structure Location of our Offices Proper Accommodation Appropriate Aesthetics Organizational Structure Right Sized establishments Communication Establishment of the Office of the Chief Master Building Capacity Remove uncertainty of temps - Master’s Academy

Issues Requiring Attention Service Point Management Clustering Focus on our Core Business Support the vulnerable! Compliance vs. People focus Shared Services Guardian’s Fund Reform Legislation – Curatorships, estates & rescues Policies – focus on the vulnerable Procedures & Directives Benchmarks & Blueprints Unsound Human Resources Practices

Issues Requiring Attention Stakeholder Management Civil Society, Traditional & Religious Leaders Legal Profession Legal Aid Board Banks & Trust Companies Social Welfare entities

Weesheer System had its origin in the early days of the Cape Colony,  when it was ruled by the DEIC. An "Orphan  Chamber" was set up to look after the interests of widows and  orphans, and to see that they were not cheated of their  inheritance, and to protect the interests of creditors in  deceased or insolvent estates. In 1827 the "Master of the Orphan Chamber" or "Orphan Master" (Dutch: Weesheer) became known as the  "Master of the Supreme Court, and more recently Master of the  High Court.