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North West High Court, Mahikeng, becomes the main seat of the North West Division;

South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, becomes a local seat of the Gauteng Division; and

Western Cape High Court, Cape Town, becomes the main seat of the Western Cape Division,

of the High Court of South Africa, and the area of jurisdiction of each of those courts becomes the area of jurisdiction or part of the area of jurisdiction, as the case may be, of the Division in question.

(2) Notwithstanding section 6(1), the Gauteng Division shall also function as the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Divisions, respectively, until a notice published in terms of section 6(3) in respect of those Divisions comes into operation.

(3) Any circuit court established under any law repealed by this Act and in existence immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been duly established in terms of this Act as a Circuit Court of the Division concerned.

(4) Any person holding office as the Judge President, a Deputy Judge President or a judge of a High Court referred to in subsection (1) when this Act takes effect, becomes the Judge President, a Deputy Judge President or a judge of the Division in question, as the case may be.

(5) The President may, with the view to facilitating and promoting the effective and efficient administration of justice in the Divisions established in terms of this Act, after consultation with the Chief Justice and the Minister, and with the consent of the judge concerned, transfer any judge of a Division to the Limpopo, Mpumalanga or North West Division.

Rules in existence immediately before commencement of Act

51. The rules applicable to the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and the various High Courts immediately before the commencement of this section remain in force to the extent that they are not inconsistent with this Act, until repealed or amended.

Pending proceedings when Act commences

52. (1) Subject to section 27, proceedings pending in any court at the commencement of this Act, must be continued and concluded as if this Act had not been passed.

(2) Proceedings must, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be pending if, at the commencement of this Act, a summons had been issued but judgment had not been passed.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) are also applicable, with the changes required by the context, in respect of proceedings pending on the date when a notice contemplated in section 50(2) comes into operation.

References in other laws

53. Any reference in any law—

to the Supreme Court Act, 1959, or a provision of the said Act, must be construed as a reference to this Act or a corresponding provision of this Act;

to a Supreme Court, a High Court, or a provincial or local division of a Supreme Court, must be construed as a reference to the High Court of South Africa or a Division referred to in this Act, as the context may require; and

to the Appellate Division of a Supreme Court, must be construed as a reference to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Financial accountability

54. (1) The Minister must consider and address requests for funds needed for the administration and functioning of the Superior Courts, as determined by the Chief Justice after consultation with the other heads of Court, in the manner prescribed for the budgetary processes of departments of state.