"It is clear from chapter eight of the Constitution that the magistracy must be integrated into the broader judicial system," said Moseneke. "We should strive to achieve a single judiciary."

The department said Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Johnny de Lange had called for a more seamless judicial structure at the conference. "We want a situation where you have someone who starts in the traffic courts but who knows he can one day be chief justice."

He said the lower judiciary was created for an apartheid system."

Great, here we go again.... a recent case heard in the Constitutional Court (Travers v National Director of Public Prosecutions and Others 2007 (3) SA 242 (T)) ruled that: "Importantly, the court held that magistrates enjoyed the same level of judicial independence as did judges."

As the lower Courts are a creature of statute, I fail to see how it can be construed that the "lower courts" was created for an apartheid system - my understanding was that the lower Courts were introduced to make the law (and Courts) accessable to all, and more so to the disadvantaged.