News24 reports that the Public Servants Association (PSA) has welcomed the closure of the "death trap" Musina Magistrate's Court, which it believed was "in danger of collapsing, owing to structure support failure".

The trade union indicated in a statement: "The closure comes after a long battle with the [justice] department as employees were subjected to an unsafe work environment that was in contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)." On Monday, the Department of Employment and Labour issued the court with a prohibition notice in terms of the OHSA, according to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development's spokesperson, Steve Mahlangu. "Until all issues raised by the Department of Labour have been attended to and the building receives clearance, the Cash Hall Building that houses Court A (District Court) and Court B (Regional Court) is deemed to be out of bounds effective immediately," Mahlangu advised. In the meantime, cases will be postponed outside the court building on a daily basis. Matters relating to witnesses' fees or for the cash hall, domestic violence applications, and already enrolled maintenance matters will be attended to from the available mobile structure. Service delivery at the Masisi Periodical Court will not be affected. The PSA said the closure could have been avoided if the issues raised in the contravention notice had been attended to.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24

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