CAPE TOWN, 30 October 2025– Magistrates across South Africa are pressing Cyril Ramaphosa to accelerate the long-awaited salary review for their posts, calling attention to what they say is an unfair discrepancy with high court judges.
The Judicial Officers Association of South Africa (JOASA) says a review of magistrates’ pay has been delayed for 17 years, and that only the president and the Independent Remuneration Commission have the mandate to adjust their salaries. They argue that despite equal training and comparable responsibilities, magistrates do not receive the same benefits as judges.
On Wednesday, magistrates demonstrated outside Parliament to highlight the gap in remuneration and benefits. Their demands include equivalent benefits to judges — lifelong salaries after retirement, comprehensive state-provided medical aid and appropriate security provision. They say current conditions do not reflect the value of their work.
Magistrates have also raised concerns about heavy workloads and persistent judicial vacancies. One magistrate, Denni Leppan, described the working conditions: “We do not have judges’ assistants or registrars to help us research our cases or write our cases. At the moment, nationally, our computers are down, and we work on our private computers to draft our judgments, and we work after hours.” These remarks underscore the pressure on lower-tier judicial officers.
Beyond salary and benefits, the magistrates are calling for legislation to create a single judiciary, eliminating the hierarchy between judges and magistrates. They argue that this reform would recognise them as equals in the judicial system and remove what they view as institutionalised disparity.
The issue of the salary review is now firmly on the political agenda. With 17 years of delay, the pressure is on President Ramaphosa and the remuneration commission to respond. Whether the proposed changes will be enacted remains to be seen, but the magistrates are clear: the status quo is untenable.
