Bloemfontein is the capital of the Free State and South Africa’s judicial capital, home to the Supreme Court of Appeal as well as the Free State High Court and the magistrate’s court.
Three different courts sit in Bloemfontein and they do entirely different work. The magistrate’s court hears everyday criminal and civil matters; the High Court hears serious and higher-value matters; the Supreme Court of Appeal hears appeals from High Courts and does not deal with the public directly at all.
A small claims court operates alongside the magistrate’s court, costs nothing, and permits no lawyers. For a civil claim within its limit it is faster and cheaper than anything else available, and the clerk helps you complete the paperwork.
This page covers how to contact the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in South Africa. The details below were taken from the official Department of Justice and Constitutional Development contact page rather than from any third-party directory.
ContactDetails.co.za is an independent directory. We are not the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and cannot act on your behalf. Everything on this page is a routing aid so you reach the right official channel quickly.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development contact numbers
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development does not publish a contact telephone number on its official website. We checked on 22 August 2026 and the site carries no telephone number we could pass on. The official site at justice.gov.za is the route to use.
We have deliberately not published a number here. An unverified number is worse than none: it sends people to whoever happens to answer it, which is exactly the mechanism behind contact-detail scams.
Courts do not publish central switchboards that can discuss your case. A court’s registry deals with files, dates and documents, and it will ask for the case number before anything else. If you do not have the case number, the attorney on record, the investigating officer or the summons you were served has it.
Self-service options before you call
- Check the official site at justice.gov.za, which carries the current contact details and any online enquiry form.
- Calling outside peak times. Monday mornings and the hour after 17:00 are usually the worst for South African contact centres.
What to have ready before you call
- A clear one line summary of what you need resolved.
- Your account, order or reference number if you already have one.
- The identity document or account holder details, since most South African providers verify who you are before discussing an account.
- Dates, amounts and any error message exactly as it appeared.
- A pen and paper for the reference number. Ask for one every time, because without it a follow up call starts from nothing.
The small claims court
- It costs nothing to use and no lawyer may appear. That is the point: both parties present their own case to a commissioner, who is a practising lawyer sitting voluntarily.
- There is a monetary limit, set by the Minister and revised from time to time. A claim above it must go to the magistrate’s court instead, and you cannot split a claim to fit.
- You must send a letter of demand first, giving the other side fourteen days to pay, and produce proof that you sent it. Skipping this step gets the matter struck off.
- Bring every document. The contract, the invoice, the messages, the photographs. The commissioner decides on what is produced on the day.
- The decision is final. There is no appeal from a small claims court on the merits, only a review on limited grounds, which is the trade-off for the speed and the cost.
Claims against the state, claims for defamation and matrimonial matters are excluded. The clerk of the small claims court will tell you whether your claim qualifies before you file.
Complaints and escalation
If a first call does not resolve the matter, escalate through the office of the chief magistrate for that cluster, in writing and with the case number. If the delay is administrative rather than judicial, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is the department responsible, and the Public Protector investigates undue delay in state administration once the department has had its chance.
Keep a short written log of each contact: the date, the channel you used, the name of the agent and the reference number. Most court administration complaint processes ask for exactly that history, and having it ready is usually the difference between a fast resolution and starting over.
Avoiding fake Department of Justice and Constitutional Development contact numbers
Contact details for well known South African brands are a common target for impersonation. Numbers that look official appear in search ads, social media replies and cloned websites, and the person answering is not the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
- Reach Department of Justice and Constitutional Development through the official site at justice.gov.za rather than through a number in a search advert or a social media reply.
- The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development will never ask you for your full card number, PIN, CVV, online banking password or a one time PIN. Nobody legitimate needs those to help you.
- Treat any caller who creates urgency, asks you to install remote access software, or asks you to move money to a safe account as fraudulent, and end the call.
- If you are unsure whether a call was genuine, hang up and dial the official number yourself rather than calling back a number the caller gave you.
Related contact pages
Frequently asked questions
What is the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development contact number?
We do not publish one, because we could not confirm a number on an official source. Numbers do circulate on directory sites, and we do not republish those.
How do I know a Department of Justice and Constitutional Development number is genuine?
Check it against the official site at justice.gov.za. A number that only appears in a search advert, a social media reply or a third-party directory should not be trusted for anything involving your account, your money or your identity document.
What should I do if nobody resolves my query?
Ask for the complaint reference and the escalation path on your first call, then follow the escalation route described above. Keep the dates, agent names and reference numbers, because every formal complaint process will ask for them.
Can ContactDetails.co.za resolve this for me?
No. We are an independent directory, not the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and we have no access to your account. Everything here is a routing aid so that you reach the correct official channel with the right information in hand.
Is there a cost to calling these numbers?
South African 0860 and 0861 numbers are charged at a share-call or standard rate depending on your provider, and 0800 numbers are toll free from a landline. Calls from a mobile are billed at your own operator’s rate, so check your plan if cost matters.
Contact routes on this page were checked against official sources on 22 August 2026. If you find a detail that has changed, the official source is always the authority.