Two different Master’s offices sit in Pretoria, and confusing them is the most common mistake people make here. The regional Master’s Office serves the public and handles estates, trusts and Guardian’s Fund matters falling within its jurisdiction. The national Office of the Chief Master is an oversight and final-escalation office at the SALU Building; it is not where you report an estate. The regional office is also the one that moved: from 1 June 2026 its address changed to 351 Francis Baard Street, so any older listing pointing you to the SALU Building for a regional matter is now wrong. There is one further complication worth knowing before you dial. The department published an operational notice dated 22 July 2026 recording that the telephones at the Pretoria Master’s Office were out of order, so if the switchboard does not answer, that is a known fault rather than a changed number.
Official branch contact route
- Switchboard: 012 339 3333 or 012 339 7700
- Guardian’s Fund customer care: 012 339 7794 or 012 339 7729 — a dedicated line, so use it directly rather than going through the switchboard for Guardian’s Fund matters
- Postal address: Private Bag X60, Pretoria, 0001
- Email: the department publishes only the head of office’s personal address for this office rather than a general office mailbox, so telephone or an in-person visit is the practical route
Location and operating information
- Address from 1 June 2026: 351 Francis Baard Street, Pretoria, 0002
- Previous address: SALU Building, 316 Thabo Sehume Street, Pretoria
- Public office hours: 07h45 to 13h00
The 13h00 close is firm and it is early, which makes Pretoria one of the offices where an afternoon visit is simply not possible. Arrive with enough of the morning left to be seen. Because the move is recent, confirm the address by telephone before travelling if you are working from any printed or third-party source — and note that the national office remains at the SALU Building, so an address change to Francis Baard Street applies to the regional office only.
Services at this location
As a regional Master’s Office, Pretoria covers the Master’s five divisions: deceased estates, insolvency, the registration and supervision of trusts, curators and tutors, and the Guardian’s Fund. The separately published Guardian’s Fund customer care numbers indicate the volume that division carries here. Estates are reported to the office with jurisdiction over where the deceased was living in the twelve months before death, so this office serves that area rather than anyone who happens to be in Pretoria. Trust document submissions are the exception to the regional rule entirely: terminated trusts go to [email protected] and dormant trusts to [email protected], both handled centrally.
Parent organisation and escalation
This office forms part of the Master of the High Court, a branch of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Complaints stay within the office until it has been exhausted: the Assistant Master handling your matter, then the Deputy Master, then the Head of Office, in that order. Only after those three does a matter reach the Office of the Chief Master on 012 406 4804. If travelling to Pretoria is impractical, every Magistrate’s Office has been a designated service point for the Master since 5 December 2002.
Sources
The telephone numbers, addresses, relocation date, office hours and operational notice on this page were read from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s official Master contacts page at justice.gov.za on 30 August 2026. Officials’ personal email addresses published there are deliberately not reproduced. The department warns separately that chiefmaster.co.za is not an official Master’s website. Confirm details against justice.gov.za before travelling.