Only 6 superior courts meet target of reserved judgments in SA

The latest annual report on the judiciary has revealed that South African courts are struggling to deliver reserved judgments timeously.

Chief Justice Mandisa Maya is delivering the annual judicial reports for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years. The reports give data on the performance of the courts and the judiciary.

While the annual judicial reports delivered by Chief Justice Mandisa Maya show improvement in several parts of the judiciary, judgments withheld for too long remain a thorn in its side.

According to the 2024/2025 report year, only six of the country’s 26 superior courts met the target of delivering 70 percent of reserved judgments within three months.

The Constitutional Court was the worst performing with only 13% of its reserved judgments delivered in the prescribed time, a notable increase from just 8% in the previous year.

Maya has attributed this performance to the high-profile and complex nature of matters before the court.

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