Supreme Court of South Africa - History

History

The Supreme Court was created by the South Africa Act 1909 when the Union of South Africa was formed. The Supreme Courts of the four former colonies (the Cape Colony, the Transvaal Colony, the Orange River Colony and the Natal Colony) became provincial divisions of the Supreme Court. The Court of the Eastern Districts and the High Court of Griqualand, both in the Cape, and the High Court of the Witwatersrand in the Transvaal became local divisions under their respective provincial divisions. A new Appellate Division, headed by the Chief Justice of South Africa, was created to hear appeals from the provincial and local divisions.

Until 1950 there was a right of appeal from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

In 1957 the Eastern Cape Local Division was elevated to provincial status, and in 1969 the Griqualand West Local Division was similarly elevated, becoming the Northern Cape Provincial Division. Over time, two new local divisions were created: the Durban & Coast Local Division under the Natal Provincial Division, and the South Eastern Cape Local Division under the Eastern Cape Provincial Division. During the apartheid era the Supreme Court of South Africa lost jurisdiction over the quasi-independent bantustans (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei) which created their own Supreme Courts.

The Interim Constitution which came into force in 1994 kept the existing structure of the Supreme Court, but absorbed the Supreme Courts of the bantustans as provincial divisions. The final South African constitution which came into force in 1997 transformed the Appellate Division into the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the provincial and local divisions into High Courts.