The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa . It is divided into nine provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographical area in which it is situated. The decisions of a division are binding on magistrates' courts within its area of jurisdiction. The High Court has jurisdiction over all matters, but it usually only hears civil matters involving more than 400,000 rand , and serious criminal cases. It also hears any appeals or reviews from magistrates' courts and other lower courts.
7-662: The Limpopo Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the Limpopo province of South Africa. The main seat of the court in Polokwane opened on 25 January 2016. The court also has local seats at Thohoyandou and Lephalale . Before the opening of the division, the Gauteng Division at Pretoria had jurisdiction over Limpopo and circuit courts sat at Polokwane. Until 1994,
14-635: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. When Venda was reincorporated into South Africa in 1994 the court continued to exist, and when the current Constitution of South Africa came into force it became one of the High Courts. It was known as the Venda Division until 2009, when it received the name of "Limpopo High Court, Thohoyandou". In 2013, in the restructuring brought about by
21-522: The Superior Courts Act , the court at Thohoyandou became a local seat of the Limpopo Division, with the main seat to be established at Polokwane. High Court of South Africa The court and its divisions are constituted in their current form by the Superior Courts Act, 2013 . They replaced the previous separate High Courts, which had in 1997 replaced the provincial and local divisions of
28-531: The High Court keeps all the records relating to people's estates (whether they are deceased or insolvent). The Sheriff delivers certain documents to the parties in a civil case, and also attaches property when a warrant is issued. The Director of Public Prosecutions, who used to be called the Attorney-General, is responsible for criminal prosecutions by the state. The State Attorney is the lawyer who represents
35-664: The area that is now Limpopo was part of the Transvaal Province and was within the jurisdiction of the Transvaal Provincial Division (now the Gauteng Division). In July 1979 a High Court was established for the Venda bantustan . In September of the same year Venda became nominally independent from South Africa, and its court became the Supreme Court of Venda, although decisions of the court could still be appealed to
42-547: The former Supreme Court of South Africa and the supreme courts of the TBVC states ("Bantustans" created by the apartheid government in the 1950s). Each division is headed by a Judge President and Deputy Judge President. The registrar keeps all the official court documents. The family advocate must be consulted on all matters involving children, as the High Court is the "upper guardian" of all children in South Africa. The Master of
49-413: The state in civil actions (where the state is suing or being sued). The Superior Courts Act, 2013 , divides the High Court into nine divisions, one for each province . Some divisions have multiple seats of the court; the main seat has jurisdiction over the whole province, while the local seats have concurrent jurisdiction over some part of the province. The divisions are: Circuit Courts are also part of
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