| Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa | |
|---|---|
 The Palace of Justice in Pretoria | |
 Interactive map of Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa | |
| 25°44′41″S28°11′15″E / 25.7446°S 28.1874°E /-25.7446; 28.1874 | |
| Established | 1877(High Court of theZAR) |
| Jurisdiction | Gauteng and part ofNorth West,South Africa |
| Location | Pretoria (main seat),Johannesburg (local seat) |
| Coordinates | 25°44′41″S28°11′15″E / 25.7446°S 28.1874°E /-25.7446; 28.1874 |
| Composition method | Presidential appointment on the advice of theJudicial Service Commission |
| Authorised by | Chp. 8 of theConstitution;Superior Courts Act, 2013 |
| Appeals to | |
| Judge President | |
| Currently | Audrey Ledwaba (acting) |
| Since | August 2025 |
TheGauteng Division of theHigh Court of South Africa is asuperiorcourt of law which hasgeneral jurisdiction over theSouth African province ofGauteng and the eastern part ofNorth West province. The main seat of the division is atPretoria, while a local seat atJohannesburg has concurrent jurisdiction over the southern parts of Gauteng.
Audrey Ledwaba has been the Acting Judge President[1] of the division since appointment ofDunstan Mlambo[2] asDeputy Chief Justice of South Africa.
A High Court was established for theSouth African Republic (the Transvaal Republic) in 1877, while the Witwatersrand gold fields were visited by acircuit court subordinate to the High Court.[3] Both courts ceased to exist as a result of the British victory in theSecond Anglo-Boer War. In 1902, two superior courts were established for the newTransvaal Colony: the Supreme Court of the Transvaal in Pretoria, and subordinate to it the High Court of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.[4] On the creation of theUnion of South Africa these courts became the Transvaal Provincial Division and the Witwatersrand Local Division, respectively, of theSupreme Court of South Africa.
The Transvaal Provincial Division's area of jurisdiction was reduced in 1977 and 1979 whenBophuthatswana andVenda became nominally independent and established their own supreme courts. When the currentConstitution of South Africa came into force in 1997 the Transvaal and Witwatersrand Divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa and the Supreme Courts of Bophuthatswana and Venda all became High Courts. In 2001 some districts inNorth West were removed from the jurisdiction of the Transvaal Division and placed under theBophuthatswana Division inMafikeng. In 2009 the Transvaal and Witwatersrand divisions were renamed the North Gauteng and South Gauteng High Courts, respectively. In 2013, in the restructuring brought about by theSuperior Courts Act, the courts became two seats of a single Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa.
| City | Coordinates | Jurisdiction | Former names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pretoria (main seat) | 25°44′41″S28°11′15″E / 25.7446°S 28.1874°E /-25.7446; 28.1874 (Gauteng Division, Pretoria) | Province ofGauteng (Ekurhuleni,Emfuleni,Johannesburg,Midvaal,Mogale City), andNorth West districts ofBloemhof,Brits,Christiana,Klerksdorp,Potchefstroom,Schweizer-Reneke,Ventersdorp,Wolmaransstad, as well asMadibeng,Ga-Rankuwa andTlokwe in North West province | High Court of the South African Republic; Supreme Court of the Transvaal; Transvaal Provincial Division; North Gauteng High Court[5] |
| Johannesburg | 26°12′08″S28°02′43″E / 26.2023°S 28.0453°E /-26.2023; 28.0453 (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg) | In civil and criminal matters: districts ofAlberton,Boksburg,Germiston,Johannesburg,Kempton Park,Krugersdorp,Randburg,Randfontein,Roodepoort,Westonaria In civil matters only: districts ofBenoni,Brakpan,Delmas,Nigel,Springs,Vanderbijlpark andVereeniging | High Court of Witwatersrand; Witwatersrand Local Division; South Gauteng High Court |
| Judges President | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| № | Incumbent | Tenure | Notes |
| 1. | Jacob de Villiers (1868–1932) | 1910 – 1920 | SubsequentlyChief Justice of South Africa |
| 2. | SirJohn Wessels (1862–1936) | 1920 – 1923 | Subsequently Chief Justice of South Africa |
| 3. | SirArthur Weir Mason (1860–1924) | 1923 – 1924 | Died in Office |
| 4. | John Stephen Curlewis (1863–1940) | 1924 – 1927 | Subsequently Chief Justice of South Africa |
| 5. | Daniël de Waal (1873–1938) | 1927 – 1937 | |
| 6. | Benjamin Tindall (1879–1963) | 1937 – 1938 | Judge of Appeal from 1938 |
| 7. | Leopold Greenberg (1885–1964) | 1938 – 1942 | Judge of Appeal from 1943 |
| 8. | Charles Barry (1877–1956) | 1943 – 1947 | |
| 9. | Gerrie Maritz (1889–1964) | 1947 – 1959 | |
| 10. | Frans Rumpff (1912–1992) | 1959 – 1961 | Subsequently Chief Justice of South Africa |
| 11. | Quartus de Wet (1899–1980) | 1961 – 1969 | |
| 12. | P. M. Cillié (1915–1996) | 1969 – 1979 | Judge of Appeal from 1980 |
| 13. | W. G. Boshoff (1916–1989) | 1980 – 1985 | Judge of Appeal from 1985 |
| 14. | H. H. Moll (1921–2003) | 1985 – 1991 | |
| 15. | Frikkie Eloff (1925–2017) | 1991 – 1998 | |
| 16. | Bernard Ngoepe (1947– ) | 1998 – 2012 | |
| 17. | Dunstan Mlambo (c. 1960– ) | 2012 – 2025 | SubsequentlyDeputy Chief Justice of South Africa[6] |
As of January 2023, the permanent judges of the Gauteng Division included:[7]
| Appellate courts | | |
|---|---|---|
| High Court divisions | ||
| Lower courts | ||
| Specialist courts | ||
