The make-up of South Africa’s judiciary

The South African court system is made up of one Constitutional Court, one Supreme Court of Appeal, 13 High Courts, one Labour Court, one Labour Appeal Court, one Competition Appeal Court, one Electoral Court and one Land Claims Court.

The court and judiciary are overseen by the Chief Justice: currently Judge Mogoeng Mogoeng who has been in the role since 2011. A Deputy Chief Justice assists the Chief Justice: currently the role is unfilled but President Zuma nominated Judge Raymond Zondo for the position in March 2017.

Transformation of the judiciary is a key focus for the Judicial Service Commission and the Office of the Chief Justice. Judges Matter has put together an infographic based on the numbers of the Judiciary make-up taken from statistics gathered in March 2016. This provides a visual summary of the race and gender transformation in the superior courts of South Africa.

For the purposes of this infographic we will concentrate on the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and the High Courts. Our statistics include:

• The Constitutional Court
• The Supreme Court of Appeal
• 13 High Courts of South Africa:

1. Eastern Cape High Court Grahamstown
2. Eastern Cape High Court Port Elizabeth
3. Eastern Cape High Court Mthatha
4. Eastern Cape High Court Bhisho
5. Free State High Court Bloemfontein
6. Gauteng High Court Pretoria (North Gauteng)
7. Gauteng High Court Johannesburg (South Gauteng)
8. KwaZulu-Natal High Court Pietermaritzburg
9. KwaZulu-Natal High Court Durban
10. Limpopo High Court Thohoyandou
11. Northern Cape High Court Kimberley
12. North West High Court Mafikeng
13. Western Cape High Court Cape Town

Infographic of South Africa’s judges

Numbers are reflective of statistics taken from March 2016.

Download South Africa’s Judiciary Infographic