Despite South Africa's division into nine provinces, the country has a single national court system. The ordinary courts are the district and regional magistrates' courts, the provincial divisions of the High Court, and the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The Constitutional Court is the final court of appeal for all matters relating to the Constitution of South Africa, and its decisions are binding on all other courts in South Africa. It has the power to make the final decision on the constitutionality of an act of Parliament or of a provincial legislature; although the High Court or the Supreme Court of Appeals may make an order declaring an act to be unconstitutional, the order does not come into effect until the Constitutional Court confirms it.
The Supreme Court of Appeal hears only appeals and is the court of last resort in all except constitutional matters.
The High Court is divided into provincial divisions and exercises both original and appellate jurisdiction. The origins of the High Court lie in the Supreme Courts of the four colonies (Cape Colony, Transvaal Colony, Natal Colony, and Orange River Colony) from which the Union of South Africa was formed. The Superior Courts Act, 2013, restructured the High Courts into divisions of a single High Court of South Africa.
South Africa is divided into approximately 350 magisterial districts; each one served by a district magistrate's court. In criminal cases, district courts have jurisdiction over all crimes except treason, murder, and rape, and can impose a sentence of no more than three years and a fine of no more than R120,000. They can also hear civil cases where the value of the claim is no more than R300,000.
The magisterial districts are grouped into regions, and each region has a regional court which may sit at multiple locations. In criminal cases, regional courts have jurisdiction over all crimes except treason and can impose a sentence of no more than fifteen years and a fine of no more than R600,000. They can hear civil cases where the value of the claim is no more than R400,000, as well as divorce cases.
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A great deal of recent case law is available through SAFLII, the Southern African Legal Information Institute, including the following: decisions of the Constitutional Court, 1995 -; decisions of the Supreme Court of Appeal, 1984 -; selected High Court decisions of the Eastern Cape High Court, 2009 -; Western Cape High Court, 1993 -; Northern Cape High Court, 2001 -l Guateng High Court, 1993 -; North Guateng High Court, 2002 -; South Guateng High Court, 2005 -; Kwazulu High Court, 1997 -; and North West High Court, 1998 -, and decisions of various specialized courts.
A large collection of historical case law is available through LLMC Digital, including most of the case law the Library owns in print through 1946, as well as the following:The South African law reports. Transvaal Provincial Division, 1910-1946, and South African law reports. Orange Free State Provincial Division, 1910-1946, South African law reports. Eastern Districts Local Division : reformatted from the original and including, Cases decided in the Eastern Districts' Local Division, 1910-1930, and Digest of the Transvaal law reports, 1877 to 1899 : together with notes of some unreported cases,
The Law Library has a limited historical collection of South African case law in print.This includes the South African Law Reports (KTL18 .A31947), 1947-2010, which contains decisions of the South African Supreme Court, as well as decisions of the High Courts and Supreme Courts of various states and provinces, i.e. Zimbabwe, Namibia, Transkei, Bophthatswana, and Venda. This title was a merger of two earlier titles, Decisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa (Cape of Good Hope Provincial Division),(KTL18 .A31910 1910), 1910-1946, and Decisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa, Appellate Division (KTL18 .A31911 1910), 1910-1946. The Library also owns The Digest of South African Case Law Containing the Reported Decisions of the Superior Courts to the End of 1921 (KTL18 .B5 1926), and The Digest of South African Case Law : Containing the Reported Decisions of the Superior Courts from 1934-1945 (KTL18 .B5 1934-45).
Juta's Index and Annotations to the South African Law Reports (KTL18 .A2), includes a case citator alphabetically arranged by case name, and a subject index to cases reported. Coverage begins with 2003.