Recent News – About Court-annexed Mediation – October 2025

ABOUT COURT-ANNEXED MEDIATION

As the oldest Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) organisation in Southern Africa since 1979, the Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) NPC (the Association) has always recognised the importance of mediation in dispute avoidance and dispute resolution, both in ADR processes and in litigation.

As such, the Association has been training, upskilling and certifying mediators over many years in partnership with The Society of Mediators (the SoM) based in London in the United Kingdom under the competent guidance of inter alia Jonathan Dingle and Andrea Barnes.

But, as Dire Straits would have it against the pleasant background of Mark Knopfler’s Fender Stratocaster: ‘… then came the lawyers, then came the rules …’.

The South African legal fraternity ultimately realised the value of what the Association has been advocating all along regarding mediation.

Earlier this year the Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa issued a Directive and Protocol (the Directive) regarding mandatory mediation applicable to all civil actions in the Pretoria and Johannesburg Divisions of the High Court. The Directive has since been revised by the currently Acting Gauteng Division Judge President, and it may well be revised again.

One of the essential effects of the Directive is that, with effect from 22 April 2025, trial dates for civil actions may not be allocated by the Registrar unless the dispute between the parties has been mediated in accordance with the provisions of the Directive. This is referred to in the Directive as ‘Court-Annexed Mediation’.

The Directive inter alia requires that a facilitative mediation process must be conducted by a graduate professional who has successfully completed a Mediation Training Course accredited by an accreditation body such as The South African Dispute Settlement Accreditation Council (DiSAC), presented by a Recognised Mediation Organisation (RMO) which is affiliated with a recognised affiliation body such as The Association of Dispute Resolution Practitioners of South Africa (ADRP-SA). The graduate professional must also be certified by the RMO as having acquired the necessary skills, experience and competence to act as a mediator in Court-Annexed Mediations and he or she must be certified by an independent assessor as ‘Mediation-Competent’.

The Association is a listed RMO for purposes of the Directive. It is affiliated with ADRP-SA. The Association’s Mediation Training Course (the Course), which it regularly presents in partnership with the SoM, has been accredited by DiSAC with effect from 9 March 2015.

Competency Certificates as aforesaid are issued by the Association and an Independent Assessor in compliance with the Directive.

As a result of the fact that DiSAC has accredited the Course with effect from 9 March 2015, everyone who has successfully completed it since 9 March 2015 is in principle entitled to a Certificate of Competence issued by the Association for purposes of Court-Annexed Mediation in terms of the Directive.

Understandably, the Directive has initiated wide-ranging interest in mediation as a form of ADR, both Court-Annexed and Private. The Association’s Secretariat is currently dealing with an unprecedented volume of frequently asked questions (FAQs) in this regard. For your convenience, we have compiled the following summary to address the answers to the most pertinent FAQs in this regard:

(a).

Currently, there is no statutory framework for regulating either mediation or mediators in South Africa. Any person may receive training, either through the Association or any other organisation, and practise as a mediator in South Africa.

(b).

However, the Directive applies to and regulates mandatory mediation in the Gauteng Division (Pretoria and Johannesburg) of the High Court of South Africa, also referred to as ‘Court-Annexed Mediation’.

(c).

The Directive contains a number of requirements, all of which mediators participating in Court-Annexed Mediation have to comply with. These include inter alia the following:

• The mediator must be a graduate professional.
• The graduate professional must have successfully completed a 5-day / 40-hour Mediation Training Course such as the one presented by the Association in partnership with the SoM.
• The Mediation Training Course must be presented by a listed RMO such as the Association, affiliated with a recognised affiliation body such as ADRP-SA.
• The Mediation Training Course must be accredited by a recognised accreditation body such as DiSAC.
• An RMO such as the Association must certify the graduate professional as having acquired the necessary skills, experience and competence to act as a mediator in Court-Annexed Mediations, and an assessor independent from the Association must certify him or her as mediation-competent.
• A graduate professional’s certification as aforesaid must at all times remain subject to continued membership of and compliance with all codes, policies and rules and submission to the general oversight of an RMO such as the Association.

(d).

Successful completion of the Mediation Training Course presented by the Association in partnership with the SoM and certification by the Association in compliance with the Directive as aforesaid will render a candidate a certified competent mediator for purposes of Court-Annexed Mediation in terms of the Directive.

(e).

Successful completion of a Mediation Training Course and certification as such is the first step in an ongoing process to become fully compliant with all requirements contained in the Directive for purposes of Court-Annexed Mediation.

(f).

Any person may enroll for the Mediation Training Course presented by the Association in partnership with the SoM. Such person would be entitled to practise as a Mediator in South Africa. Whether successful completion of the Mediation Training Course would also lead to certification as a Court-Annexed Mediator for purposes of the Directive will depend on whether a candidate complies with all of the requirements contained in the Directive.

(g).

In short, to be certified by the Association as a Court-Annexed Mediator, to appear on the Association’s Roll of Mediators, and to be eligible for nomination or appointment by the Association for purposes of Court-Annexed Mediation in terms of the Directive and Protocol, a candidate must:

• be a graduate professional,
• be a Member (either an Associate or a Fellow) of the Association,
• have successfully completed one of the Mediation Training Courses presented by the Association in partnership with the SoM since 9 March 2015.

(h).

Any other person wishing to be eligible for nomination or appointment as a Mediator for purposes of private mediations (as opposed to Court-Annexed Mediations) and who has not completed a Directive-compliant Mediation Training Course, must be a Fellow in good standing of the Association.

(i).

The Association does not provide advice to anyone regarding their compliance or otherwise with the requirements of the Directive. It is a candidate’s sole responsibility to ensure such compliance.

(j).

Although the Directive referred to herein is current at the time of publication, it remains subject to revision and/or amendment by the Office of the Gauteng Judge President. The reader is advised to ensure that he or she refers to the current version of the Directive and Protocol.

Tjaart van der Walt SC

Chairperson, Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) NPC