Lamola denies that master’s office is dysfunctional

JUSTICE and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola has dismissed a suggestion that the Master’s office was dysfunctional.

Lamola was responding to a parliamentary question from DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, who asked him about plans to turn the situation around.

Breytenbach said Master’s offices around the country continued to be dysfunctional to a degree that was unacceptable.

Last week, the Law Society of South Africa called on the national legislature to intervene as a matter of urgency as it said there was a lack of leadership, lack of service delivery, correspondence was not being unanswered, email correspondence was not being utilised, phones were not being answered and officials could not be reached.

The Master’s office deals with deceased estates, bankruptcy matters, registration of tests, curatorships and the Guardian’s Fund.

In response to the complaints, Lamola said: “Performance on all of the above is measured against targets set in terms of the Masters’ annual performance plan. The statement that all the Master’s offices are dysfunctional and have ceased to function is wide as there are no specifics provided in order for the master to respond,” he said.

Lamola indicated that in a bid to improve service delivery, the Master’s branch together with the ICT branch have been developing an online deceased estates solution.

“This seeks to enable South African citizens to submit their deceased estate applications online, giving the user the ability to register an estate from the comfort of their home or office without the need physically to visit any Master’s office or service point of the master. This system was successfully piloted in three Master’s offices in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, and (was envisaged) to be launched into live production in five offices in October (this month).”