"This is a justice department in slow motion and its finances are not in good position," she said.
Almost 2,000 vacancies are stilledunfilled in the nation's courts, she said.
"The bottom line is that the courts are not well run," she said.
An official in the department of correctional services acknowledged that all was not well and that staffing was a problem.
"We are trying our best to enhance swift dispensation of justice," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"One of our main handicaps is that we do not have enough qualified personnel at the bench and the prisons are over-crowded," the official said.
A spokesman for the justice ministry meanwhile acknowledged there were some "systemic issues that impact negatively on the speedy finalization of cases."
The ministry is "continuing to prioritize cooperation with all organs in the criminal justice system with the aim of rooting out the inefficiencies that ultimately rob awaiting trial prisoners of their rights to a speedy trial," spokesman Victor Phala said.
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