Justice & Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola is confident the backlog in the Master’s Office – which accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result of a September 2021 cyberattack – will be cleared by the end of December.
According to a Business Day report, Lamola told DA MP George Michalakis in June that there were 29 803 letters of executorship and letters of authority outstanding before 1 March 2022 and 9 102 trust registrations/appointments outstanding.
The Johannesburg office reported a backlog of 12 000 items of post. Replying to a question in the NCOP by Michalakis, Lamola said the office will work overtime to clear the backlog by the end of December. ‘It will, however, be noted that this target can only be achieved in an enabling and stable work environment,’ he said. ‘We are beginning to see improvement but not at the pace that is satisfactory, and we have registered that with the Chief Master. We have encouraged that employees should work overtime to address some of these challenges and backlogs.’ Making use of new technology would ensure expeditious processing and ensure that the backlog would not build up again, Lamola added. He insisted that the backlog had risen as a result of Covid-19 challenges and the hacking of the system, to which Michalakis replied: ‘We cannot forever blame Covid-19 and the hacking of the Master’s Office IT system.’