Richards Bay Court Contact Details

The court at Richards Bay is a branch court rather than a magistrate court in its own right. That status, rather than the address, is what usually matters when working out where a matter will actually be dealt with.

Official contact channels

• Richards Bay branch court: 035 789 0183
• Empangeni Magistrate Court, the main seat: 035 772 1711

Services and responsibilities

A branch court hears matters locally but is administered from a main seat. For Richards Bay that seat is Empangeni, about 20 kilometres inland. Records, some administrative functions and anything the branch cannot deal with sit at Empangeni, which is also why the branch has no postal address of its own.

Office and address information

Correspondence for the Richards Bay court goes to the Empangeni private bag rather than to a Richards Bay address, so writing to the town will not reach the court.

Applications and escalation

If you are told a matter has been transferred or that a file is not at Richards Bay, Empangeni is where to ask. Neither court publishes an after hours domestic violence number, so an urgent protection order goes through the nearest police station.

Sources

• justice.gov.za/contact/lowercourts_full.html, the Department of Justice lower courts directory, read 2 September 2026.