Access to Justice in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Colonial Legacies, Structural Inequality, and the Persistence of a Bifurcated Society

This article examines the structural barriers to access to justice in contemporary South Africa, arguing that despite constitutional guarantees under Section 34, meaningful access to justice remains elusive for the majority of South Africans. Through critical analysis of the Nedbank v Thobejane litigation and its appellate trajectory, this study demonstrates how colonial-apartheid economic legacies perpetuate what Madlingozi terms a "bifurcated society" of 'beings' and 'non-beings.' The research reveals that spatial, temporal, linguistic, and economic barriers systematically exclude indigent South Africans from effective legal remediation. Drawing on decolonial legal theory and empirical evidence, the article contends that true access to justice requires addressing underlying structural inequalities rather than merely providing formal procedural rights. The Supreme Court of Appeal's decision in Standard Bank v Thobejane exemplifies judicial reluctance to engage with the material conditions that render constitutional rights illusory for South Africa's marginalized populations.