The judgments and various rulings of the Mpumalanga High Court regarding the relationship between the main seat in Nelspruit and the local seat in Middelburg, have been effectively overruled by the SCA.
The practice in the Mpumalanga High Court was to regard the main seat in Nelspruit and the local seat in Middelburg as virtually separate divisions. Matters that emanated outside the Mbombela “region” could could not be entertained in Nelspruit and vica versa.
The Supreme Court of Appeal held inter alia in various matters on 25 June 2021 that :
“The main seat of a Division of a High Court is obliged to entertain matters that fall within the jurisdiction of a local seat of that Division because the main seat has concurrent jurisdiction”.
The SCA also held that “there is no obligation in law on financial institutions to consider the cost implications and access to justice of financially distressed people when a particular court of competent jurisdiction is chosen in which to institute proceedings.
The full citation of the judgment is : The Standard Bank of SA Ltd and Others v Thobejane and Others (38/2019 & 47/2019) and The Standard Bank of SA Ltd v Gqirana N O and Another (999/2019) [2021] ZASCA 92 (25 June 2021)
Read the judgment here.
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