Press release by FISA
9 April 2025
Master’s Office – FISA expresses concern
Legal powers and discretions assigned to the position of Chief Master and the various Masters cannot currently be exercised in the absence of renewed or new appointments.
The Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA) is deeply concerned that key appointments within the Master’s Offices have not been renewed or addressed.
The acting Chief Master’s appointment expired on March 31, as did the appointments of the acting Masters in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Kimberley and Bloemfontein.
The Minister of Justice has taken over the power from the acting Chief Master to make acting appointments in the Master’s offices and has so far failed to exercise this power. The current acting Chief Master apparently cannot be appointed as acting Chief Master again in terms of regulations because she has already completed two six-month appointments. The process to appoint a permanent Chief Master was underway last year, without any appointment being made yet.
FISA CEO Louis van Vuren said: “The result of this is that legal powers and discretions assigned to the position of Chief Master and the various Masters cannot currently be exercised. This leaves the public and practitioners in limbo regarding several statutory functions and discretions. Unfortunately, this situation comes on the back of existing service delivery issues within some Master’s Offices.
As of 9 April, there have been no announcements regarding this on the website of the Department of Justice. Together with other stakeholders, we are attempting to make contact with the authorities to emphasise the urgency of rectifying this unacceptable situation,” said Mr van Vuren.
Ends
Prepared by Lucy Reyburn, FISA PR
Contact: Louis van Vuren, FISA CEO, louis@fisa.net.za