Jason Pretorius has waited more than two years for his mother’s alleged killer to face trial in South Africa—a limbo of grief and deferred closure that reflects a justice system at its breaking point.
The country’s courts are overwhelmed, with backlogs so severe that some trials are being scheduled four years out. Tens of thousands of cases remain in legal purgatory, undermining the fundamental principle that justice delayed is justice denied.
For Jason, 27, each postponement feels like losing his mother all over again. “She was my best friend,” he says, his voice warm but his face heavy with sadness.
“Everyone who knew her loved her. She was always trying to make the people in her life happy. That’s how I remember her—kind and loving.”
Charlene was 43 and relishing her new role as a grandmother when she was killed in May 2023. Police allege she was set alight in her car in an act of gender-based violence. She later died in the hospital from her injuries.
Legal observers warn that such extreme delays erode faith in South Africa’s judiciary—a dangerous trend in a country already struggling with some of the world’s highest crime rates. For families like Jason’s, justice remains painfully out of reach.
By James Kisoo
