The Association of Regional Magistrates of Southern Africa (ARMSA) has launched a high court application to compel President Cyril Ramaphosa to make a decision on their long-overdue salary increases, a move that could have significant ramifications for the public purse.
The legal action, confirmed by ARMSA president Ian Cox in an interview, stems from a recommendation made last year by the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers (IRC). The commission proposed a major review of magistrates’ salaries and benefits, which includes a potential increase of around 34%.
However, the report has been on the President’s desk since the first week of October 2023, with no decision forthcoming despite repeated requests from the magistrates’ body.
“We wrote letters asking when he would make his decision,” Cox told interviewer Stephen Grootes. “We were informed at the end of May that the president would within three weeks… make his decision. After that, we heard nothing.”
Frustrated by the delay, ARMSA filed court papers on July 17th, naming President Ramaphosa as the first respondent, followed by the IRC and the two houses of parliament.
Cox was quick to contextualize the seemingly large 34% figure, explaining that it is the first major review of their salaries in 15 years. During that period, he said, magistrates have received annual increases consistently below the inflation rate, causing their real earnings to be severely eroded.
“We were just lagging behind, lagging behind, and lagging behind,” Cox stated. “Our salaries are eroded over time. We can no longer do what we did 5 years ago, never mind 10 years ago.”
The impact, according to Cox, is critically low morale within the magistracy. He pointed to the stark disparity between their earnings and those of the lawyers and prosecutors who appear before them in court daily.
“It makes you despondent,” he said, adding that the pay gap sometimes leads to arrogance from legal representatives. “It’s as if though we work for them, so to speak… it’s not good for the morale of the judiciary.”
The case raises a broader fiscal concern. If the court rules that the President must implement the IRC’s recommendation for magistrates, the same ruling could logically apply to other public office bearers grouped under the same remuneration framework, including mayors, Members of Parliament, and judges.
This would force the National Treasury to find billions of rands to cover substantial back-dated increases for a wide range of officials—a prospect that is likely to spark public outcry, particularly regarding increases for unpopular MPs.
Cox acknowledged the potential strain on the fiscus but argued that magistrates are incorrectly grouped with elected officials. He indicated that ARMSA plans a separate constitutional challenge, arguing that the current legislation governing their pay is flawed and unconstitutional because they are employees of the state, not elected officials.
He also revealed that magistrates were previously asked to “take a back seat” on salary reviews to prioritize increases for elected officials with shorter terms, a promise he says was never fulfilled.
“We stood back and nothing’s been done since,” Cox said. “And now we are in a position where once again it’s actually our turn… but everybody is in the same boat, and that’s not fair.”
The matter was heard in the Johannesburg High Court today, placing mounting political and financial pressure on the Presidency to break its silence on the contentious issue.