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ARTICLE · 29 SEPTEMBER 2026

No Easy Escape From Gauteng’s Mandatory Mediation Regime

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
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Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

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A recent Gauteng High Court judgment confirms that mandatory court-annexed mediation cannot be avoided simply because parties are hostile toward each other or believe the process will be futile. The court ordered an uncooperative defendant to participate in mediation, establishing that only exceptional circumstances will excuse parties from the process introduced by the Directive and Protocol.

South AfricaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Belinda Scriba
Belinda Scriba
Claudia Grobler
Claudia Grobler
Zahaa Safodien
Zahaa Safodien

In the judgment of Brondani v Brondani (2021-52977) [2025] ZAGPJHC 1157 Adams J confirmed that only exceptional circumstances will excuse parties from participating in court-annexed mediation governed by the Mandatory Mediation Directives of the Gauteng Division (Directive), read with its Mediation Protocol (Protocol). The judgment serves as a stark warning to litigants in the Gauteng Division: mandatory mediation cannot be avoided simply because parties believe themselves to be too hostile towards each other or that the process will be futile. This ruling reinforces the compulsory nature of the mediation regime to all civil actions instituted in the Gauteng High Court divisions.

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