(11 September 2026)
At a case-management meeting held with the case directing judge on 9 September 2026 in the “Stellenbosch High School Gender ‘transition’ case”, the High Court in Cape Town directed that the court hearing of the merits of the matter will no longer take place from 12 to 16 October 2026.
Read more about the case at: https://causeforjustice.org/gender-transition-in-schools-court-case/
The Court considered the way forward relating to the filing of further affidavits, and the readiness of the matter for hearing. The Court directed that one of the school respondents may file a further affidavit, after which the other parties may exercise their rights under the Court Rules should they wish to object. If an objection is raised, that issue may be argued separately and could be set down for a one-day hearing.
The parties agreed that the previously reserved hearing dates from 12 to 16 October 2026 should be released, as the matter is not yet trial ready. The Court accordingly vacated the hearing dates. The Court emphasised that the parties must first ensure that the matter is fully prepared before new hearing dates are sought.
The parties are expected to engage with one another in order to agree on revised timelines. A follow-up case-management meeting has been scheduled for October 2026, at which the Court will either confirm agreed timelines or give further directions to the parties.
The Court also indicated that it would be appropriate for the medical experts in the case to meet in order to identify facts that are common cause and facts that remain in dispute.
Further updates will be provided following the next case-management meeting.
[CASE UPDATE ENDS]
Background to the case
The matter is about cross-sex/gender treatment of learners identifying, and wanting to express themselves socially, as if they were of the other sex/gender. The school, Stellenbosch High School, is accused of allegedly having unfairly discriminated against a learner during the second half of 2020 by not agreeing to certain accommodations that would have allowed the learner to be treated as if they were of the other sex/gender.
In addition to a declaration of unfair discrimination and harassment, and payment of damages for harm suffered, the Applicants seek a court order that –
- a circular of the findings of the matter to be sent to all Western Cape schools.
- the school amend their code of conduct to make provision for the reasonable accommodation of learners’ gender identity and gender expression.
The Applicants are seeking far-reaching court intervention that will likely have a coercive impact on all other public schools in the Western Cape and rest of the country.
What is CFJ’s role in the case
As an amicus curiae (friend of the court) party, CFJ will be able to make submissions going to the core of the case – namely whether a whole school community may be forced to conform to one individual’s self-perception.
CFJ intends making submissions regarding the ideological nature of trans/gender identitytheory which would otherwise not have been considered by the court, as well as submissions on the true meaning of ‘gender’ in South African law and the best interests of children in these matters. Through CFJ’s school policy development work with a number of schoolssince 2022, it has become convinced that learners with gender dysphoria can be reasonably accommodated in ways that can assist in alleviating their gender distress, without forcing schools to adopt ideologies such as trans/gender identity theory.
What will happen next
The court hearing of the merits of the matter will no longer take place from 12 to 16 October 2026. Once a final round of affidavits have been exchanged, the various medical experts involved will have to meet to identify facts that are common cause and facts that remain in dispute.
Thereafter new court dates will be negotiated by the parties and allocated by the Court, followed by preparation and exchange of written legal submissions (heads of argument) in the lead-up to the court hearing, which is likely to take place in the second half of 2027.