The Makhanda High Court Action Committee has once again implored Justice and Correctional Services minister Ronald Lamola not to move the Eastern Cape's Seat of the High Court.
This comes after a recommendation by the Moseneke Commission of Enquiry that the Seat of the High Court be moved from Makhanda to the provincial capital, Bhisho.
Rhodes University Vice Chancellor and vice chairperson of the action committee, Proffessor Sizwe Mabizela, said the Moseneke Commission's argument does not hold water.
"Their argument was about access to justice and the other one is a rather dubious one... it's that the Seat of the High Court should be located in the provincial capital and that of course can easily be disputed because that is not the situation in Gauteng."
Professor Mabizela said the action committee in 2010 won a previous bid to retain the Seat in Makhanda and that it not be moved to Bhisho.
He said that would have a devastating impact on the local economy.
"We argued and explained to them that the relocation of the Seat of High Court will lead to huge job losses and, in fact, the last economic impact survey that we commissioned indicated that some 9,406 jobs will be lost and that is a reduction of 39.7% of the jobs in Makhanda."
Earlier in 2023, Lamola granted the Moseneke Commission until the end of October to submit its final report.
Professor Mabizela said they've had a chance to engage the minister on the matter and hope that he will side with them.
"We engaged the minister who came down to Makhanda to listen to us and we were really grateful for that. He listened to us very intently - he had not received the final report by then and he afforded us the opportunity to make further representations.
"The minister still has to apply his mind to the report and make his final decision."
