Limpopo Division

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Limpopo Division of the High Court of South Africa
Limpopo Division
23°54′45″S29°27′14″E / 23.9124°S 29.4538°E / -23.9124; 29.4538
Location Polokwane (main seat), Thohoyandou, Lephalale (local seats)
Coordinates 23°54′45″S29°27′14″E / 23.9124°S 29.4538°E / -23.9124; 29.4538
Composition method Presidential appointment on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission
Authorized byChp. 8 of the Constitution; Superior Courts Act, 2013
Appeals to Supreme Court of Appeal or Constitutional Court
Judge President
Currently George Phatudi
Since1 December 2023
Deputy Judge President
Currently Violet Semenya
Since1 July 2021

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. [1] 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.

Contents

History

Until 1994, 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 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 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. [2]

List of Judges President

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Ephraim Mampuru Makgoba is a South African retired judge of the High Court of South Africa. He was the inaugural Judge President of the Limpopo Division from 2015 to 2022, though he joined the bench in 2008 as a puisne judge of the Gauteng Division. Before he joined the bench, he was an attorney in Nelspruit and Polokwane.

Nare Frans Kgomo is a South African judge of the High Court of South Africa. He currently serves in the Limpopo Division of the High Court, but he joined the bench on 1 May 2008 as a judge of the Gauteng Division, following his shortlisting for that position in February 2008. Sitting in the Johannesburg High Court in 2010, Kgomo heard the Brett Kebble murder trial and dismissed the murder charges against Glenn Agliotti.

References

  1. Manyathi-Jele, Nomfundo (1 June 2016). "Limpopo High Court launched". De Rebus. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  2. "Zuma signs new court bill". News24. Sapa. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  3. "A farewell function to honour Judge President Ephraim Makgoba". Polokwane Observer. 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2024-01-20.