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TheSupreme Court of South Africa was asuperior court oflaw inSouth Africa from 1910 to 1997. It was made up of various provincial and local divisions with jurisdiction over specific geographical areas, and an Appellate Division which was the highestappellate court in the country.^[1]

The Supreme Court of South Africa was dissolved in 1997 when the currentConstitution of South Africa came into force. The provincial and local divisions, as well as the supreme courts of the formerTBVC states ("Bantustans"), became separate High Courts, while the Appellate Division became theSupreme Court of Appeal (SCA). The High Courts were subsequently restructured by theSuperior Courts Act, 2013 into nine provincial divisions of a singleHigh Court of South Africa. The SCA is no longer the highest court because it is subordinate to the jurisdiction of theConstitutional Court.

The Supreme Court was created by theSouth Africa Act 1909 when theUnion of South Africa was formed. The Supreme Courts of the four former colonies (theCape Colony, theTransvaal Colony, theOrange River Colony and theNatal 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.^[2] A new Appellate Division, headed by theChief 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 theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council inLondon, which was terminated under the terms of thePrivy Council Appeals Act 1950 - which was enacted under the government ofD.F. Malan,Prime Minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954.

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 theapartheid era, the Supreme Court of South Africa lost jurisdiction over the quasi-independentbantustans (Transkei,Bophuthatswana,Venda andCiskei) which created their own Supreme Courts.

TheInterim 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 finalSouth African constitution which came into force in 1997 transformed the Appellate Division into theSupreme Court of Appeal, and the provincial and local divisions intoHigh Courts.

The South Africa Act had created the Appellate Division, and renamed the existing courts of the colonies as follows:

• The Supreme Court of the Cape of Good Hope (Cape Town) became the Cape of Good Hope Provincial Division (abbreviated CPD; now:WCC of theHigh Court)
  • The Court of the Eastern Districts of the Cape of Good Hope (Grahamstown) became the Eastern Districts Local Division (EDL)
  • The High Court of Griqualand (Kimberley) became the Griqualand West Local Division (GWL)
• The Supreme Court of the Transvaal (Pretoria) became the Transvaal Provincial Division (TPD; now:GP)
  • The High Court of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) became the Witwatersrand Local Division (WLD; now:GJ)
• The High Court of the Orange River Colony (Bloemfontein) became the Orange Free State Provincial Division (OPD; now:FB)
• The Supreme Court of Natal (Pietermaritzburg) became the Natal Provincial Division (NPD; now:KZP)
  • The Durban & Coast Circuit Court (Durban) became the Durban & Coast Local Division (DCLD; now:KZD)

Subsequent changes to the divisions were as follows:

• In 1957 the Eastern Districts Local Division was separated from the Cape Provincial Division and became the Eastern Cape Provincial Division (abbreviated E; now:ECG).
• In 1960 the High Court of South-West Africa became the South-West Africa Division (SWA)^[3] until 1981, when it became theSupreme Court of South West Africa.^[4]
• In 1969 the Griqualand West Local Division was separated from the Cape Provincial Division and became the Northern Cape Provincial Division (NC; now:NCK).
• In 1973 a Transkeian High Court was created atUmtata, becoming theSupreme Court of the Transkei when that homeland attained nominal independence in 1976 as theTranskeibantustan (Tk; now:ECM).
• In 1974 the South Eastern Cape Local Division was created atPort Elizabeth, having jurisdiction (concurrently with the Eastern Cape Provincial Division) over that city and the surrounding districts (SE; now:ECP).
• In 1977 the Supreme Court ofBophuthatswana was created when the homeland attained nominal independence (B; now:NWM). Supreme Courts ofVenda (V; now:LT) andCiskei (Ck; now:ECB) were similarly created in 1979 and 1981 respectively.

• Courts of South Africa
• 1910 establishments in South Africa
• 1997 disestablishments in South Africa
• Supreme Court of South Africa

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