Personal

Born                    :               28 August 1962

Husband             :               Josef Benjamin Steyn

Son & wife          :               Ruan and Michelle Steyn

Grandson            :              Jack Benjamin Steyn

Education

Matric                  :               J J Du Preez High School (1980)

BIuris                   :               University of South Africa (1983)

LLB                      :               University of Western Cape (1994)

LLM                     :               University of Cape Town (1999)

Professional History

• District Court Magistrate and Senior Prosecutor, Department of Justice: (1987-1995)
• Chair of Rape Forum and Juvenile Justice Forum: (1992-1995)
• Convenor of the Criminal Offences Task Team, responsible for drafting the Criminal offences of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998
• Senior Lecturer at University of Cape Town and University of Western Cape: (1996-2007)
• Acting Judge, Northern Cape: (October-December 2008)
• Judge KwaZulu-Natal Division: (January 2009 to date)
• Acting Judge of the Electoral Court: (May 2024 - 31 May 2025)
• Acting Judge of Appeal: Supreme Court of Appeal (April 2025 – 31 May 2025)
• Acting Judge of Appeal: Supreme Court of Appeal (1 June 2025 - 30 September 2025)

Honours and other activities

• Vice-Chair of the National Council of Correctional Services (2015 – 2019)
• Member of SAJEI Council (2023 till present)
• Commissioner of Jali Commission (2002 – 2005)
• Convenor of the Criminal Offences Task Team responsible for drafting the criminal offences contained in the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 121 of 1998
• Distinguished Teachers’ Award UCT (2001)
• Recipient research grant from Aberdeen University Scotland for project ‘Constitutional Criminal Justice: A comparative study’.
• Represented NCCS at APAI Conference March 2019, Baltimore USA.

Publications

• D van Zyl Smit and E Steyn, chapter titled ‘The South African Prison System’, published by J P Cére et C Eduardo (eds) Le systéme pénitentiaire dans le Monde 2 ed (2011) (Dalloz publishers)
• ‘Plea Bargaining in SA: current concerns and future prospects’ (2007) 20 SACJ 206-219
• ‘Do victims of crime play any role at sentencing and do their rights impact on the prison population?’ Paper presented in Teheran, published by the Iran Prison Organisation.
• Jali Commission Report Volumes 1-5, published November 2006, Co-author of the reports.
• D van Zyl Smit and E Steyn ‘Prisons systems of the world’ in J P Cere and C E Japiassu (eds) Le systéme pénitentiaire en Afrique du Sud (Dalloz publishers).
• ‘Undue delay in criminal cases: The Scottish and South African courts response’ (2003) Acta Juridica, 139-159. Also published as a chapter in J Sarkin et al, The Administration of Justice: Current Themes in Comparative Perspective, 153-172 (Four Court Press: Dublin).
• ‘The Draft Anti-terrorism Bill of 2000: The Lobster Pot of the South African Criminal Justice System’ (2001) 14 SACJ 179-194.
• ‘An Evaluation of the SA Constitutional Court’s decision on bail’ – Sarkin, Steyn, Van Zyl Smit and Paschke in ‘Resolving the tension between Crime and Human Rights: An Evaluation of European and South African issues’ edited Sarkin et al, at 217 to 241.
• D van Zyl Smit, E Steyn, J Sarkin and R Paschke ‘Individual liberty in crisis?’ Reflections on the decision of the Consitutional Court in S v Dlamini; S v Dladla and Others; S v Joubert; S v Schietekat (2000) 16 SAJHR 292-312.
• CIJL Prosecuting authority in the new South Africa – D van Zyl Smit and E Steyn.
• ‘A call for the abolition of the ‘hue and cry’ rule’. Published in News and Reviews December edition
• LLM Thesis – ‘Witnesses in South Africa, The Stepchildren of the Criminal Justice System’ (limited publication, libraries UCT only).