The Office of the Judiciary says the Gobabis Magistrate's Court has a permanently appointed regional court magistrate, and that bail applications are heard as a matter of urgency when brought before the court.

The judiciary's response follows complaints from inmates at the Gobabis police holding cells about what they say is the continuous absence of presiding officers and prosecutors.

Inmates who asked to remain anonymous spoke to NBC News, and their complaints are far-reaching.

Allegations are that presiding magistrates and prosecutors share accommodation units and that matters are being postponed to lengths that the accused persons deem and describe as unreasonable.

The judiciary said it is unaware of the allegations. However, it stated that it is not advisable for a prosecutor and a magistrate to share accommodation. 

The allegations, among others, include that there is no permanent magistrate at the regional court.

The Chief Public Relations Officer at the Judiciary, Delila Salatiel, responded to an NBC News enquiry, saying Gobabis Regional Court has a permanent regional court magistrate and that the court has had a dedicated magistrate since the end of 2024.

Salatiel said bail applications are treated as urgent cases and prioritised once filed.

The accused persons also laid bare allegations that they are, at times, encouraged to plead guilty, with the purpose of hastening trial time before a magistrate.

Salatiel dismissed these allegations and said the Office of the Judiciary is not aware of such practices, and it is acknowledged that accused persons have a constitutional right to a fair and speedy trial.

On allegations of case backlogs, she said the situation is not isolated to that court. 

She added that the district's case backlog is not considered excessive compared to other jurisdictions. 

All magistrates are expected to finalise at least 15 matters in a 30-day cycle, she explained, broken down into 15 new cases and 15 from the backlog.

The Judiciary has taken steps to manage workload, including deploying acting magistrates and judicial officers to assist where necessary.

At the start of this week, NBC News received complaints from inmates held at the police holding cells at Gobabis.

The inmates bemoaned the overcrowded cells, which were designed for a 60-person capacity but held 233 accused persons.

The inmates further alleged that the magistrates assigned to the region are continuously absent and that their cases are being postponed with no end in sight.