Hi Keith, "Balju" is the Afrikaans term for a "Sheriff of the Court". In the SA legal system, the sheriff's job is to enforce court orders, ie delivering summonses, court orders, etc. and also confiscate a person's property, if such confiscation was ordered by a court. Not a very popular job, indeed. As to the exact origin of the word, I am not very clear, but I am sure that, like "landdrost" (magistrate), it originates in Roman-Dutch Law. Johan.