Kubayi reverses Pretoria high court jurisdiction change

Minister of justice Mmamoloko Kubayi has backed down on her decision to remove Madibeng in the North West from the jurisdiction of the high court in Pretoria.

Kubayi faced litigation from the Madibeng Attorneys Association, which challenged her decision to place the district under the jurisdiction of the Mahikeng high court instead of Pretoria, but chose to settle with the attorneys.

The bone of contention in the litigation was that residents’ right to access courts would be negatively affected by the decision, which forced them to litigate in Mahikeng, about 260km from Brits (Madibeng) instead of Pretoria, 51km away.

They wanted the Pretoria high court to continue exercising jurisdiction over Madibeng until a local seat of the North West division is established at Rustenburg.

The settlement between the minister and the attorneys, negotiated for about a month, was made a court order on Monday, effectively declaring Kubayi’s decision to remove Madibeng from the jurisdiction of the high court in Pretoria invalid and set aside.

“Madibeng (Brits) shall revert to, and fall within, the area of jurisdiction of the Gauteng division. Proceedings relating to Madibeng, instituted in the North West division, Mahikeng after publication of GN 7648 on July 2 2026 up to the date of this order, including all process, orders and procedural steps in those proceedings under section 27 of the Superior,” the court order reads.

Speaking for Madibeng Attorneys Association, Letlhogonolo Maimane said the settlement was reached after weeks of negotiations with the minister’s legal team.

“We finally came to a settlement after very deep talks with the minister. We appreciate the willingness of the minister to have this legislative, which confirms and also reaffirms our position that prior to taking such decisions, which have a very big impact on the public, there needs to be a meaningful consultation,” Maimane said.

The litigation challenged the department of justice and constitutional development’s recent Government Gazette notice changing areas falling under high court jurisdictions in different provinces.

The changes effective from July to the jurisdiction of the high court in Pretoria have triggered litigation against Kubayi from lawyers.

The Pretoria Society of Advocates and Pretoria Attorneys Association have also taken the minister to court. They want to review and set aside Kubayi’s decision limiting areas under the jurisdiction of the high court in Pretoria.

The July notice ended the concurrent jurisdiction for the Johannesburg and Pretoria high courts regime, which means the high courts now have defined geographical area of jurisdiction. Pretoria no longer has jurisdiction for matters that arise in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Sedibeng or the West Rand.

Litigants have to institute litigation in the specified jurisdiction or face the financial costs of litigating in a wrong court.