Justice Department regional spokesperson, Joseph Makutle, tells OFM News the case was confirmed by the Department of Health, and work to trace suspected contacts linked to the said employee has already commenced. Departmental officials have advised that the court be closed for 2 days - Thursday and Friday.

Makutle further says as a result of this unplanned two-day closure of the court, most criminal, civil and family law matters on the roll have been postponed until Monday. 

This comes after the Department of Justice and Correctional Services in a separate incident confirmed the closure of the Wolmaransstad Correctional Centre after one of the prison warders at the facility tested positive for Covid-19.

"We have already started the process for the court to be decontaminated over the weekend. The Department of Health has already started the process of contact tracing and testing of close contacts of the affected official," he adds. 

Makutle says in case of an urgent matter that would seek the attention of the court, a Senior Magistrate and Court Manager are available to deal with such matters during the 2-day closure. 

"We would like to take the opportunity to ask members of the public and court users to bear with us until next week when our services will be fully restored," he further adds.

On Sunday OFM News reported that a local police station in Stilfontein outside Klerksdorp in Matlosana was temporarily closed after a positive case was confirmed. 

The municipal offices of  the Matlosana Municipality were recently also closed after an employee tested positive. The province so far has 652 active cases of Covid-19 after 104 patients recovered from the virus, and one death was recorded from 757 reported cases.

Matlosana has, alongside Rustenburg, been flagged as epicentres of the disease after miners from Harmony Gold tested positive for the virus in large numbers within only three days.

OFM News