It was made up of various provincial and local divisions with jurisdiction over specific geographical areas, and an Appellate Division which was the highest appellate court in the country.
Until 1950 there was a right of appeal from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, which was terminated under the terms of the Privy Council Appeals Act, 1950 - which was enacted under the government of D.F.
During the apartheid era, the Supreme Court of South Africa lost jurisdiction over the quasi-independent bantustans (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei) which created their own Supreme Courts.
The Interim Constitution which came into force in 1994 kept the existing structure of the Supreme Court, but absorbed the Supreme Courts of the bantustans as provincial divisions.
The final South African constitution which came into force in 1997 transformed the Appellate Division into the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the provincial and local divisions into High Courts.