In April 2025, the Judge President released a new directive introducing mandatory mediations in all matters which are or will be proceeding in the Gauteng Divisions of the High Court.
The directive requires that litigants undergo a formal mediation process prior to being entitled to apply for a trial date for any type of matter including divorce matters. If mediation fails and the matter does not settle, then in order to obtain a trial date, the parties must now submit a mediation report from an accredited mediator.
All matters enrolled for hearing from 1 January 2027 were automatically removed from the roll and those litigants would need to first comply with the mediation directive and then re-apply.
The directive aimed at enforcing Section 34 Constitutional right to access to the courts in circumstances where lead times for trial dates was 7 years. The effect of this protracted lead time meant that despite matters being trial ready, they would only be enrolled for hearing for a date 7 years later.
A further aim was to relieve the Gauteng High Courts of their full court rolls as more matters would settle in mediation, outside of court, which would open up space on the trial rolls.
The directive promises that litigants will now be allocated dates within 18 months from lodging their application for a trial date.
The Courts are enforcing this directive vigorously, as is evidenced by the recent case of Brondani v Brondani argued on 11 November 2025.
In this matter, the court was required to decide if there existed any cogent reasons for a litigant not attending mediation prior to applying for a trial date.
Judge Adams stated categorically that a litigant subjectively claiming that the matter cannot be resolved through mediation, would not be sufficient grounds to dispense with the directive and the need to attend mediation.
Essentially, the fact that one of the parties believed that mediation would be ‘a waste of time’ is not a justifiable reason to allow for dispensing of the mediation directive.
The court ordered that the defendant in the matter is compelled to engage in the mediation process, in accordance with the mediation directive.
Mediation is now an unavoidable and critical step in every Gauteng High Court matter. Contact SWVG Attorneys to guide you through the mediation process and ensure that you prepare effectively, saving years, reducing costs, and positioning you for the strongest possible outcome.
