This is according to the Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber. Schreiber said this during the briefing before the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the impact of litigation, as well as issues of state funded legal representation of undocumented foreign nationals.

Dr Schreiber acknowledged that the department is one of the government departments that have a huge bill of fees for lawyers on litigation matters. He says the department is yet to calculate the amount spent on court cases. But he believes it is not a small fraction.

“I think chair if we go to the starting point-we have to say that this is one of the most litigated departments in government. I am not sure exactly how many as compared to others but there is no doubt that this department  has traditionally dealt with a huge amount of court cases and those things have real detrimental impact on  the ability of the department to function. Firstly, there is a financial side to it. The contingent liabilities that come from the legal exposure as well as just as the day-to-day costs of spending so much money on legal cases,” Schreiber said.

--SABC--