Chief Masters Report

To the Portfolio CommitteeMarch 2006

SERVICE POINT STATISTICSOFFICE TOTAL 2004 ESTIMATED TOTAL 2005 % GROWTHKIMBERLEY 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 0 14470   New Office

JOHANNESBURG 0 9658   New Office

CAPE TOWN 1200 2671 123%

37115 87505 136 %

Comparisons

YEAR DECEASED BUDGET

2004 82802 112

2005 145335 116

DECEASED

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

2004 2005

2004

2005

BUDGET

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

2004 2005

2004

2005

Comparisons

YEAR INSOLVENCY

2004 5944

2005 4741

INSOLVENCY

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

2004 2005

INSOLVENCY

    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 26.7% 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 TotalKwaZulu-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%

Growth in the Guardian’s Fund

Current Staffing  Total Staff Permanent Temporary % of Temp staff

Chief Master's Office 45 26 19 42%

Nelspruit 6 6 0 0

Johannesburg 89 52 37 42%

Pretoria 286 216 70 24%

Cape Town 127 102 25 20%

PE 15 11 4 27%

Grahamstown 63 45 18 29%

Bisho 10 8 2 20%

Bloemfontein 67 43 24 36%

Kimberley 19 15 4 21%

Pietermaritzburg 166 94 72 43%

Thohoyandou 6 4 2 33%

Polokwane 17 14 3 18%

Mafikeng 38 32 6 16%

Mthatha 11 4 7 64%

Durban 32 11 21 66%

Totals 997 683 314 32%

Issues Requiring Attention

Issues Requiring Attention1. Physical Structure

– Location of our Offices– Proper Accommodation– Appropriate Aesthetics

2. Organizational Structure– Right Sized establishments

3. Communication- Establishment of the Office of the Chief Master

4. Building Capacity– Remove uncertainty of temps- Master’s Academy

Issues Requiring Attention5. Service Point Management

– Clustering6. Focus on our Core Business

– Support the vulnerable!– Compliance vs. People focus– Shared Services– Guardian’s Fund

7. Reform– Legislation – Curatorships, estates & rescues– Policies – focus on the vulnerable– Procedures & Directives- Benchmarks & Blueprints

Issues Requiring Attention

8. 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.