Feedback of Meeting with Master Pretoria and Office of the Chief Master

11th June 2024 – The Gauteng Attorneys’ Association(“GAA”), together with the Pretoria Attorneys’ Association(“PAA”) and Johannesburg Attorneys’ Association’s (“JAA”) representatives, had a meeting with the Master Pretoria and Office of the Chief Master on 11 June 2024 to discuss the challenges our members face at the Master Pretoria Offices.

The Chief Director: Operations from the Office of the Chief Master; the Master Pretoria’s Office Manager; the Acting Master Pretoria; and the Deputy Masters of the Master Pretoria’s respective sections were present at this meeting.

The meeting was initiated after issues at Master Pretoria were raised at the National Stakeholders’ meeting with the Acting Chief Master of 21 May 2024.

A survey was conducted on the official PAA and JAA Master’s Office Whatsapp Groups and the PAA LinkedIn page, requesting feedback from our members’ experiences at the Master Pretoria. A total of 48 responses were received, which covered all the different sections at the Master Pretoria. A further study was conducted from the Facebook page “Boedel Beredderaars / Estate Administrators”, a Facebook page with 2000 members and daily posts. The GAA addressed a letter to the Master on 5 June 2024, listing all the issues our members are experiencing at the respective sections at the Master Pretoria. The said letter is attached hereto as Annexure “GAA1”.

An agenda was tabled by the GAA and was not amended by the Master. The agenda is attached hereto and marked as Annexure “GAA2”.

The meeting was held virtually, and we are currently awaiting the minutes of the meeting, alternatively a copy of the recorded meeting whereafter we shall transcribe the minutes of the meeting. In general, the meeting was constructive and positive. We believe it is the first step in restoring relations and communications with the Master’s Office.

• Positive outcomes of the meeting were:
• The Master will set up a Special Task Team to assist with Deceased Appointments, which are outstanding for longer than 6 months.
• The “Self Help Service Kiosk Section” will be available for attorneys again, until the Deceased Online System is working efficiently.
• The Master, together with the Attorneys’ Associations, will provide “personalised” training sessions for the Deceased Online System.
• The Master will set up a Special Task Team to assist with Trust matters relating to files being stored at the Veritas Storage Facility.
• The Master confirmed that Section 42(2) endorsements will not be withheld if a L&D Account is not filed within the 6 months period.
• The Master received new scanners that is working sufficiently.
• The Master Pretoria is willing to have monthly meetings with the PAA.

Concerning outcomes of the meeting were:

• The Pretoria files which are being scanned at Veritas is currently 22% completed. There is a total of 1,100,000 files of Pretoria being stored at Veritas. Some of the files are damaged beyond recognition. The estimated time of completion is December 2024.
• The Master Pretoria Offices will relocate to a new building by the end of 2024. The lease agreement is signed, and the DOJ&CD is waiting for official signoff by the City of Tshwane. The new offices shall be in the Metro Park Building, 351 Francis Baard Street, Pretoria.

The Master indicated that we should embrace the Deceased Online System and technology developments, as they intend to expand the online systems to electronic filing of L&D Accounts and Guardian’s Fund Online in the near future. No further information regarding launch dates and involvement of the GAA was confirmed.

The Master Pretoria will distribute an updated contact list and same will be made available to our members. The names of the special task teams will also be made available as soon as same is erected.
We can confirm the Deputy Masters of the relevant sections are as follow:

Section	Deputy Master	Email	Telephone
Master Pretoria	Ms. Ntsoane	Nntsoane@justice.gov.za	012 339 3324
Deceased Appointments	Ms. Ntsoane	Nntsoane@justice.gov.za	012 339 3324
L&D Accounts	Mr. Ramonetha	MRramonetha@justice.gov.za	012 339 7950
Trusts & Curator	Mr. Ramonetha	MRramonetha@justice.gov.za	012 339 7950
Guardians Fund	Ms. Seetal	pseetal@justice.gov.za	012 339 7788
Insolvency	Ms. Seopa	Wseopa@justice.gov.za	012 339 7907
Office Manager (registration section)	Mr. Segoane	MSegoane@justice.gov.za	012 339 7791

If you have matters outstanding for more than 21 working days, please direct your query to the relevant Deputy Master and include your documents submitted to the Master’s Office.

We are satisfied that the Master engaged with us and that they are open for regular future discussions.
We will embrace the invitation for continued training sessions on the Deceased Online system and will explore possible dates and venues that will accommodate our members and the Master’s personnel.

We trust you find this feedback in order.
Yours faithfully,
Francois Bouwer
(Executive Committee Member)

~

GAA-1
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN FOR A MEETING OF THE GAUTENG ATTORNEYS’ ASSOCIATION
AND THE MASTER OF THE HIGH COURT, PRETORIA TO BE HELD ON 11 JUNE 2024 AT 14H00,
TO BE HELD VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS.
AGENDA

1. Welcoming
2. Attendance
   a. Acting Chief Master: Adv. K. Mathibe
   b. Acting Master Pretoria: Ms. N. Ntsoane
   c. Gauteng Attorneys’ Association Exco Member: Mr. WF Bouwer
   d. Pretoria Attorneys’ Association Exco Member: Ms. A. Gungapursad
   e. Johannesburg Attorneys’ Association Exco Member: Mrs. K. Gascoigne
3. Additional items to the agenda
4. Problems identified by the Gauteng Attorneys’ Association Members – Letter dated 5 June
   2024.
5. Relocation of Master Pretoria Offices – clarity and update.
6. Date of next meeting
7. Closing of meeting

GAA-2
RE: MASTER OF THE NORTH GAUTENG HIGH COURT, PRETORIA

The Gauteng Attorneys Association (GAA) was constituted on 19 July 2018. It is a federal association which initially comprised of the Johannesburg Attorneys Association (JAA) and the Pretoria Attorneys Association (PAA).

The GAA currently comprises of the PAA, JAA, WRLPA and the SLF, with their respective and combined subcommittees dealing with amongst other: Courts, Master of the High Court, Property Law, CIPC, IP, and Transformation. We are a federation of voluntary independent associations. Members of GAA exco and subcommittees, as well as those of our sister associations in the GAA, serve on the LSSA, the Gauteng Legal Practice Council, and their respective subcommittees as well as other institutions.

The JAA represents the interest of 1600 legal practitioners who have business at any of the courts within the greater Johannesburg cluster, including Soweto, Randburg, Sandton and the East Rand. The GAA is in the process of establishing an East Rand Attorneys Association. In the meantime, the attorneys in the East Rand are represented by the JAA.

The PAA has 1300 registered attorneys who practise in the greater Tshwane region, including Pretoria, Pretoria North, Centurion and Mamelodi. The PAA was formed in 1947, a year after the JAA’s formation.
The West Rand Attorneys Association (now known as the West Rand Legal Practitioners Association or WRLPA) was constituted in 2003. The WRLPA with its registered 350 members, joined the GAA shortly after the GAA’s formation.

The Soweto Legal Fraternity (SLF) also joined at the same time as the WRLPA. The SLF was founded in the same year as the founding of the GAA in 2018. It is a very new organisation trying to find its feet, with the assistance of JAA, PAA and WRLPA.

The GAA represents at least 3300 registered members in Gauteng.

NATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS’ MEETING: 21 MAY 2024
On 21 May 2024, a National Stakeholders meeting was held virtually, after the JAA initiated contact with the newly appointed Acting Chief Master regarding the issues at the Master’s Office Mbombela (Nelspruit). What initially started out as a tabled meeting regarding the Master Mbombela, turned out to be a traditional National Stakeholders’ Meeting with all the Heads of Offices present.
During the meeting of 21 May 2024, writer hereof had the opportunity to raise the issues our members experience at the Master of the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria (hereafter referred to as “Master Pretoria”).
Writer hereof raised the following issues:

1. No communication between the Acting Master Pretoria and the Pretoria Attorneys Association, since the last meeting held in November 2023.
2. No feedback from the Master Pretoria regarding the files being stored at Veritas Storage Facility.
3. Attorneys are prohibited from registering new deceased estates at the Master’s “self-help service kiosk” department.

In response to the above complaints, the Acting Master Pretoria, Ms Ntsoane, had the opportunity to respond. In her response, she stated that since her appointment as the acting Master Pretoria (being 26 April 2024), she conducted an investigation at her offices and she could confirm that the Master Pretoria’s Offices are not ready for the implementation of the Deceased Online System, due to the
following reasons:

1. There are not enough working scanners available.
2. There are not enough computers for the assistant masters.
3. The internet bandwidth of the Master is not sufficient to cater for the IT needs.
4. The Master Pretoria personnel are not trained to deal with the Deceased Online system or
   appointments scheduled after and estate is registered.

In response to the Master Pretoria’s statements, the Acting Chief Master insisted that the Master Pretoria is ready for the Deceased Online System and that personnel are properly trained. The Acting Chief Master requested that a separate meeting be scheduled between the GAA, PAA, Master Pretoria and the Office of the Chief Master.

ISSUES AT THE MASTER PRETORIA

Subsequently to the meeting of 21 May 2024, writer hereof concluded a survey under the GAA members, with regards to their recent experiences at the Master Pretoria’s offices.
To summarize, the responses were as follow:

1.Veritas Files
1.1. Instructions pertaining to files being stored at the Veritas Storage Facility remains a problem. These files affect the Trust Section; Deceased Appointment Section; Ordering of Certified Copies.
1.2. Members are waiting for longer than a year for amendments of appointment letters and trust deeds; certified copies ; correspondence from the Master.
1.3. It has become a simple excuse for the Master’s personnel to use and nothing is being done.
1.4. There is no communication between the Master and attorneys relating to files being stored at Veritas that should be ordered and retrieved from the storage facility.
1.5. The Master now requires attorneys to provide copies to the Master (and still pay the fee to the Master for certified copies) and indemnify the Master from any amendments made / copies being certified as originals.
1.6. The Master cannot provide any information for the GAA with regards to how many files of Master Pretoria are being stored at Veritas ; how far the digitalising process are ; how we can access the files without having to institute legal action against the Master.

2. Trust Section
2.1. Amendments to Letters of Authority and Deeds of Trust are being delayed due to the file not being available. Members are complaining that instructions are not being executed for more than 6 months.
2.2. Inconsistency between the Assistant Masters in the Trust Section is becoming more evident. One Assistant Master will accept a Court Order that is printed from CaseLines, the other won’t accept it without a commissioner of oaths certifying the court order as a true copy. Another Assistant Master stated that the commissioner of oaths stamp may not state that it is a certified copy of the “original”, as he is not in possession of the original, but should just state “certified copy of the court order”.
2.3. The issuing of new Letters of Authority takes longer than 21 working days, which is the stipulated turnaround period in terms of the Approved Timetables issued by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (“DOJ&CD”). In certain cases, new appointment
letters take longer than 6 months to be issued and is only done after legal proceedings are instituted.
2.4. The Master is not providing confirmation that a trust is formally terminated after the termination documents are submitted.
2.5. Obtaining certified copies from trust files take up to 6 months to obtain, if the file is available.

3. Curator Section
3.1. The Master is not responding to curator accounts being filed to the Master.
3.2. The Master is not allowing curator bonis fees on an account if there is an outstanding query on a previous account, even though the previous account’s query doesn’t affect the new account’s fees.
3.3. The issuing of new Letters of Curatorship takes longer than 21 working days, which is the stipulated turnaround period issued by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. In some cases, specific Assistant Masters take longer than 6 months to issue
new appointment letters and only do so after litigation threats are being made.
3.4. The Master is ignoring the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa’s Judgement which was granted in 2023 in respect of the definition of “income”. The citation of the case is WF Bouwer N.O. & Another vs The Master of the High Court, Pretoria (916/2022).

4. Deceased Appointment Section
4.1. Legal Practitioners are experiencing difficulties in registering new deceased estates on the Deceased Online System, for the following reasons:
4.1.1. The DOJ&CD system is offline.
4.1.2. The Department of Home Affairs’ system is offline.
4.1.3. The personnel of the Master Pretoria don’t know how to assist attorneys who made an appointment to submit the original will after registering an estate online.
4.1.4. There is no designated person at the Master Pretoria to assist attorneys who has a scheduled appointment after registering an estate online.
4.2. With the “self help kiosk system”, the turnaround time was at the longest 48 hours to obtain your letter of Executorship. With the new Deceased Online System, it takes anything between 4 – 8 weeks to obtain a Letter of Executorship.

4.3. In some cases, the issuing of new appointment letters is outstanding for longer than a year and the personnel is not assisting members when they try to follow up on outstanding matters.
4.4. The Master is issuing new query sheets, after a previous query sheet was sufficiently answered. The Master is not stating all the issues on the initial query sheet and is creating a delay in the administration process by issuing new queries every time.
4.5. Original documents submitted at the Master gets “misplaced” where after the Master is not willing to open a duplicate file – attorneys must wait 3 months before a duplicate file can be opened.
4.6. We received complaints from members that the Deceased Online System has technical issues, for example the system doesn’t save the completion of registration when a new estate is being captured and, in some instances, documents cannot be uploaded.
4.7. The support email address DojDEOnlineSupport@justice.gov.za does not always respond timeously to our requests. Some members wait over a week for a response or assistance.

5. Section 42(2) & L&D Account Section
5.1. The Master has improved their turnaround time for issuing query sheets / consent to advertise in terms of Section 35 but lacks in their response time when an objection against an L&D Account is submitted.
5.2. Complaints by heirs and creditors against Executors are not being attended too.
5.3. Upon receipt of an application for a Section 42(2) Endorsement, the Master will insist that a First and Final L&D account be filed before they issue the endorsement. We have at a previous meeting with the Master Pretoria, debated this issue and indicated that the Master are acting ultra vires. Steps in terms of Section 35(1) ; 1(A) ; (2) ; 2(A) ; (3) OR Regulation 6 should be followed.
5.4. The Master fails to provide discharge certificates to Executors and confirmation that a bond may be reduced to nil.

6. Registration Section / Copies Section
6.1. Applications for certified copies in Deceased Estates take extremely long (at least 6 months). This results in the administration process being delayed and, in some cases, resulting in financial implications for estates (especially in the transfer of fixed properties).
6.2. The Master Pretoria locked all attorneys who has MO Boxes (Masters Office post boxes / pigeonholes) and demanded proof of payment for the last 5 years. No invoices were generated, and the Master cannot verify who paid their fees in the past. Even though proof of
payments is provided for 2024, the Master is not co-operating in unlocking the MO Boxes.
6.3. The Master’s printers and scanners are often out of service, which results in a massive delay to obtain copies. Recently, the Master didn’t have papers to use in the printers for the copies ordered.
6.4. Obtaining copies from old files (estates and trusts older than 20 years) takes months to achieve.

7. General
7.1. Communication with the Master is extremely poor. Telephone calls and emails are left unanswered; personnel are not on their post during working hours; personnel are not sufficiently trained.
7.2. IT systems of the DOJ&CD and DHA is not always online, which results in instructions not being executed timeously.
7.3. The Master is not adhering to court orders, specifically with regards to the marital status on a death certificate that should be ignored and the curator bonis accounts not properly being assessed.
7.4. The Master still make use of the South African Postal Service which is problematic on its own.
7.5. The Master should issue a new contact list, stating which personnel works in which department and stating their respective contact details.
7.6. Staff at the Master’s Office not at their desks, running personal errands, not being helpful and displaying hostile behaviour when approached for assistance. This topic was raised at our meeting during November 2023, but it seems there is no improvement. Our only conclusion is that there is no leadership implementing basic work ethics in the office.

We understand that the Master is facing their own challenges with regards to the digitalisation of files at Veritas; IT systems not always working; senior personnel being suspended; ect and that this affects your service delivery on a daily basis.

It is our humble opinion that open communication and regular meetings between the Master Pretoria and the Pretoria Attorneys’ Association will resolve a lot of the issues stated above, whereas the Master can understand our frustrations and we can communicate the Master’s challenges to our members in return.

We trust you find this letter in order and look forward to discussing same during our meeting, which is scheduled for 11 June 2024, 14h00.
Yours faithfully,
Francois Bouwer
(Executive Committee Member)