Historically, the sheriffs' profession has been largely accessible to white males, and has suffered from a severe lack of public accountability. The appointment situation remains inappropriate: approximately 80% of the sheriff's offices nationally are economically non-viable while approximately 20% of the offices vary from viable to extremely viable.
It is against this background that a transformation process was launched in November 2000, with the financial assistance of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC). During this first phase, a complete audit of the sheriffs' profession was conducted which included an analysis of the profession, the legislation, the composition of the Board for Sheriffs, the administrative office and the financial systems. The preparation phase also covered audits on the history and statistical analysis of the profession, human resource and human resource development as well as coordination of the profession to operate in a cohesive method. These audits provide key guidelines to achieve critical outcomes over the next ten years.
Based on the audit results, a National Action Plan with short, medium and long-term goals has been developed which launched a process aimed at transforming the profession, within the constitutional framework of the new democratic South Africa. The critical issue is to establish mechanisms, which will achieve the necessary outcomes to ensure that the historical imbalances of race, gender, class and geography of the profession are addressed.
Historically, the sheriffs' profession has been largely accessible to white males, and has suffered from a severe lack of public accountability. The appointment situation remains inappropriate: approximately 80% of the sheriff's offices nationally are economically non-viable while approximately 20% of the offices vary from viable to extremely viable.
It is against this background that a transformation process was launched in November 2000, with the financial assistance of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC). During this first phase, a complete audit of the sheriffs' profession was conducted which included an analysis of the profession, the legislation, the composition of the Board for Sheriffs, the administrative office and the financial systems. The preparation phase also covered audits on the history and statistical analysis of the profession, human resource and human resource development as well as coordination of the profession to operate in a cohesive method. These audits provide key guidelines to achieve critical outcomes over the next ten years.
Based on the audit results, a National Action Plan with short, medium and long-term goals has been developed which launched a process aimed at transforming the profession, within the constitutional framework of the new democratic South Africa. The critical issue is to establish mechanisms, which will achieve the necessary outcomes to ensure that the historical imbalances of race, gender, class and geography of the profession are addressed.