Master's Offices crisis: South Africa's failed rescue plan one year later

More than a year after the ambitious rescue plan for South Africa’s Master’s Offices was approved, mounting frustrations among legal practitioners and industry stakeholders highlight the slow progress being made to address long-standing issues.

Approved in November 2023, the rescue plan aimed to tackle significant backlogs and inefficiencies plaguing the Master’s Offices. Its objectives included enhancing digitisation, upgrading technology, boosting human resource capacity, standardising processes, promoting transparency, implementing anti-corruption measures, and fostering public and legal community engagement.

Hussan Goga, chairperson of the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) Deceased Estates, Trusts and Planning Committee, said the LSSA is deeply concerned with the continued dysfunction at the Master’s Offices across the country.

“Despite numerous efforts over the past three months to secure a meeting with the Master’s Office, the LSSA has made no progress. This lack of engagement remains a serious concern, as it directly impacts the efficiency and quality of instructions provided to legal practitioners,” he said.

He said during the LSSA’s Annual General Meeting in April 2024, the Acting Chief Master, Kanyane Mathibe, addressed the legal profession and expressed a willingness to collaborate with the LSSA through a proposed pilot project aimed to involve attorneys in assisting with the resolution of persistent backlogs at various Master’s Offices.

“Regrettably, this proposal has not progressed, and the backlog remains unaddressed. The LSSA remains gravely concerned that, despite numerous interventions and engagements, no tangible progress has been made to address the systemic failures within the Master’s Offices. Unless urgent and decisive steps are taken, the current trajectory of decline will be extremely difficult to reverse,” said Goga.

A known estates administrator, who requested not to be named, shared an experience with one of the estates she was dealing with recently.

“In my capacity as an Estate Administrator, and being involved in the administration of deceased estates for 60 years, I now need to make a public honest confession. I administered an estate of a client who passed away in 2023 and lodged the First and Final Liquidation and Distribution Account on 28 June 2024. I have not received one single word from the Master’s Office, Pretoria.”

She explained that every email sent was also copied and forwarded to the Complaints Department at the Master's Office Head Office.

“Not even they responded to my mail. The heirs questioned me from time to time, so I had no alternative but to just go ahead to comply with all the statutory requirements and pay the heirs their inheritance. Thus, I have now finalised the estate.”

The statutory requirements referred to are Section 35 of the Administration of Estates Act, which requires that a Liquidation and Distribution Account be lodged with the Master, she further explained.

“When having lodged this, the Master has to ‘audit’ it and issue what we call a ‘Query sheet’, disclosing his comments and requirements. The Master may notice some error in this account lodged, which may necessitate an amendment of the Account.

“The Executor can then advertise in both the local newspaper and the Government Gazette that the account is to lie for inspection for objections for 21 days after advertisement appeared. If no objections, the Executor proceeds to pay all heirs and lodge proof of it all with the Master.”

Last month, the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development conducted an oversight visit to the office of the Master of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court to assess service delivery and the state of infrastructure.

Committee Chairperson Xola Nqola said a serious hazard was discovered during the visit.

The committee expressed its concern about how files are stored after discovering several rows of files in a room.

“It looks like it would be difficult for anyone to find a file in that room, but that is not a major concern. We are worried because there are no fire extinguishers in the room, nor have the smoke alarms in there ever worked. This is a serious hazard, as they are storing valuable documents, hard copies, and if it is lost, just imagine how our poor and vulnerable people will struggle,” he said.

The committee called for urgent action on the filing system and urged the landlord of the building, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to find a quick solution.

The committee questioned when fire extinguishers would be replaced or serviced.

In addition, with reports about serious IT challenges at this Master’s Office, a security breach detected last year, and several more breaches earlier this year, Nqola said the office indicated that having its own server would assist in stopping hackers.

“They informed us that fortunately, there was no money lost due to the security breaches. They might not be so lucky next time, so we need to address it speedily,” Nqola said.

According to spokesperson Terrence Manase, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is committed to improving the efficiency and service delivery of the Master’s Office.

Manase said significant progress has been made, particularly in improving turnaround times for issuing appointments in deceased estates, which have been reduced from 21 working days to 15 working days.

“The rollout of online deceased estate registration across all Master’s Offices in December 2023 has also allowed clients to report estates remotely, reducing queues, and improving accessibility.”

Additionally, he said stakeholder engagement sessions are now held quarterly to ensure open communication, and magistrates’ courts have been designated as service points to further decentralise services.

“To improve transparency and efficiency, QR codes have been introduced on deceased estate appointments, enabling banks to verify appointments without requiring direct communication with the Master’s Office.”

According to Manase, while challenges remain, they present opportunities for continued growth and improvement. “The department is actively addressing network connectivity issues through ongoing ICT enhancements to ensure stable and efficient service delivery.”

He further stated that although IT infrastructure upgrades have been initiated, some offices still require further improvements, and efforts are under way to ensure that all offices are adequately equipped.

“In terms of human resources, a recruitment drive has been launched, and critical vacancies are being filled in a phased manner, balancing the need for improved service delivery with available budget constraints.”

The department is also taking proactive steps to address backlogs, with Master’s Offices conducting assessments to prioritise outstanding matters, he said, adding that some offices have voluntarily worked additional hours to accelerate the resolution of cases and overtime provisions are being explored to further enhance capacity.

“Since the implementation of the rescue plan, there has been a notable improvement in service delivery. The ability to report deceased estates online has significantly reduced waiting times, and the availability of magistrates’ courts as service points has made services more accessible to the public.”

Manase highlighted that the department is also working towards the rollout of Trust Online, which will further streamline processes and improve efficiency.

“While work remains to be done, the department is committed to ensuring that the Master’s Office operates efficiently, transparently, and in a manner that upholds access to justice for all.”

karen.singh@inl.co.za