In a 35 page special review judgement released earlier this afternoon, a full bench of the High Court, Mpumalanga Division, issued the following Declaratory Order:

[25] The following Declaratory Order is therefore made:

(a) The court building at Skukuza has been duly appointed as a place for the holding of a court including the holding of Regional Court proceedings for the hearing of criminal trials, in terms of the Magistrates Court Act 32 of 1944, read with Government Notice NO. 219 published in the 27 January 2004 Government Gazette together with Government Notice No. 492 published in the 29 April 2016 Government Gazette.

(b) The Directives issued by Judge President Mlambo and Judge President Legodi in terms of Section 8(4)(c) of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 are valid and binding on Regional Court President Engelbrecht or her successor.

(c) The Decision by Regional Court President Engelbrecht dismissing the State's application for the transfer of the matters to the Skukuza court and their trial thereat is hereby declared invalid; this Declaratory Order does not, however, operate retrospectively .

(d) The Registrar is directed to send a copy of this judgment to the Magistrates' Commission.

For those who are interested in the full document we've uploaded the PDF here. It's a long read, but well worth it.

Today's news brings much welcome relief. The fight to save this court has taken an immense amount of effort from many different role players, some of whom have payed the price with a heavy toll on their emotional and psychological well being. We would like to commend the efforts of everyone involved, which includes each and every one of you who have signed and shared our petition. Public interest has played a very important role in this process.

As much as we would like to officially close our petition, South Africa is still in lockdown and the cases can only be transferred back to Skukuza once this is lifted. There is still a lot that needs to happen before we can announce smooth sailing.