Personal                                                                                

05 November 1958; Herschel, District of Sterkspruit

Wife: Naomi Josephine

Two children

Education

Matric: (1976) Maria Louw High School, Queenstown

BA (Law) degree (1979) University of the Western Cape

LLB degree (1981) Rhodes University

Diploma in Advanced Labour Law (1989), University of Cape Town

Professional

Articles of clerkship with attorney TM Mdlalana: 1982 - 1984

Admitted attorney: 1984

Smith Tabata and Van Heerden Attorneys: 1984 - 1996

Smith Tabata Inc. (Incorporating Barnes & Ross): 1996 - 2007

CEO of Smith Tabata Inc: 2007 - 2010

Various acting appointments (Grahamstown and Bisho High Courts): 1998 - 2010

Appointed as Judge of the High Court, Eastern Cape Division (Grahamstown): July 2010- June 2024

Acting Judge, Supreme Court of Appeal: 01 October 2021 - 31 March 2022

Acting Judge, Supreme Court of Appeal: 01 April 2024 - 31 May 2024, 01 June - 30 September 2024

Appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal: 01 July 2024 to date

Other activities

Secretary of the Eastern Cape Democratic Lawyers Association: 1983 to 1985

Vice-President of NADEL (National): 1989 to 1990

National General Secretary of NADEL: 1990 to 1992

Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Housing Board: 1997 to 1999

National Trustee of the Legal Resources Centre: 1992 to 1996

Trustee of Afesis-Corplan Community Organisation: 1992 – 1997

President of Border Kei Chamber of Commerce: 2007 to 2010

Chairperson of Ministerial Commission of Inquiry into transformation in SA cricket: 2001

Personal
19 November 1961, Kokstad, Eastern Cape
Spouse: Alan Dodson
Three sons
                   
Education
Matric: Umtata (now Mthatha) High School
BA: University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg
LLB: University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg
Master of Laws (LL M): University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Professional History
Candidate Attorney Balsillie, Watermeyer and Cawood, Cape Town (1985,1986)

Admitted as an attorney (1986)

Master of Laws, Cambridge (1987-1988 

Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town (1988 -1991)

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town (1991-1995)

Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand (1996 -1999)

Associate Professor, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand (1999)

Assistant Dean, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand (1999)

Admission as Advocate of the High Court (2001)

Senior State Advocate, Asset Forfeiture Unit, NPA (1999-2001)

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Asset Forfeiture Unit, NPA (2001-2003)

Regional Head (Johannesburg), Asset Forfeiture Unit, NPA (2003 - July 2006)

Pupillage, Johannesburg Society of Advocates (2006)

Practising member of the Johannesburg Bar, Island Group of Advocates, and Thulamela Chambers (2006 - December 2015)

Director, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Wits (2008 - 2011) 

Acting Judge, Gauteng Division, Pretoria (Oct to Nov 2013; April 2014 to May 2014)  

Acting Judge, Gauteng Local Division of the High Court, Johannesburg (Oct 2014 to Nov 2014; June 2015; July 2015 to Aug 2015 )

Permanent Judge, Gauteng Division of the High Court (January 2016 to June 2024) 

Acting Judge, Supreme Court of Appeal: 11 July 2023 – 30 November 2023, 1 December 2023-31 March 2024

Appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal: 01 July 2024 to date

Publications

• ‘The Trespass Act’ in C Murray and C O' Regan (eds) No Place to Rest: Forced Removals and the Law in South Africa (Oxford University Press, 1990
• ‘Children and the Legal System: An Overview of Issues Raised by Contributor’ (Chapter 1) in Children’s Rights (Juta, 1996)
• ‘The Beginning and End of Legal Personality' (Chapter 2) in Boberg’s Law of Persons and the Family (Juta, August 1999)
• ‘Citizenship' (Chapter 5) in Boberg’s Law of Persons and the Family (Juta, August 1999)
• ‘Accountability for Wrongdoing' (Chapter 23) in Boberg’s Law of Persons and the Family (Juta, August 1999)
• ‘The Law of Succession, Trusts and the Administration of Estates’ Annual Survey of South African Law, Juta, 1997-2007
• ‘Executive Cat and Mouse: the Paul Setlaba Case'(1989) 5 SAJHR 229
• ‘Mob Violence and Judicial Discretion in Sentencing ‘(1990) 6 SAJHR 296
• ‘Hangings in Southern Africa: The Last Ten Years (1991) 7 SAJHR 347
• ‘International Human Rights Norms in a New South Africa’ (1992) 8 SAJHR 171
• ‘Political Offences and Indemnity in South Africa’ (1993) 9 SAJHR 334‘Torture & Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in the UN Convention Against Torture & Other Instruments of International Law: Recent Developments in SA’ (1995) 11 SAJHR 334
• ‘Public International Law and the Final Constitution’ (1996) 12 SAJHR 405‘The Child’s Right to Nationality and the Acquisition of Citizenship in South African Law’ (1998) 14 SAJHR 411
• ‘The Impact of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act on an Owner’s Right to Vindicate Immovable Property (1999) 15 SAJHR 277
• ‘The Challenges of Litigating Socio-Economic Rights in South Africa’ [2011] N Z L Rev 295
• ‘Fat Cats, Slim Pickings: an Examination of Corporate Corruption and the Efficacy of Existing Countermeasures in South Africa’ JCLS VOL.11 PART2 343

Honours and Awards: 

LL B awarded summa cum laude (1984)

LL M awarded in the First Class (1988) Sir William McNair Prize for best LLM student in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (1988)

Attorneys Notaries and Fidelity Guarantee Fund Bursary for Overseas Study (1987)

Other activities

Member of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women’s Judges (current)

Trainer in Trial Advocacy Programme for the Johannesburg Bar (current)

Training input for Pupils for PABASA and Johannesburg Bar (2021)

Mediation training for South African Judiciary, Utah, United States of America, (November 2019)

Personal

Born: 10 November 1961, Kliptown, Johannesburg Wife: Rochelle Francis

Three children

Education

Matric: Noordgesig Senior Secondary School, Johannesburg BA (1982): University of the Witwatersrand

LLB (1984): University of the Witwatersrand

Professional History

Advocate Johannesburg Bar: July 1985 — January 2010 Senior Counsel: November 2005 —

➢ Acting Judge High Court (WLD, now GLD) Johannesburg: 1999, 26 July — 24 September 2000, 4 September — 3 October 2001, September 2004, 4 October — 15 October 2005, 15 August — 2 September 2006, 21 August -- 1 September 2008, 19 May - 20 June 2009, 18 May —19 June

➢ Acting Judge Labour Court: 2001, 30 July — 31 August 2003, 14 April —16 May

➢ High Court Judge (Gauteng Local Division)1 February 2010 — present

➢ Acting Judge Labour Appeal Court: 2012 — Two terms, 2013 — Two terms, 2014 — Two terms

➢ Judge of the Labour Appeal Court 2014 —

➢ Acting Judge Supreme Court of Appeal 1 December 2016 — 31 May 2017, 1 December 2023 – 31 March 2024, 01 April -31 May 2024

➢ Acting Judge Supreme Court of Appeal 1 June - 30 September 2024, 01 October - November 30 2024

➢ Appointed Judge of Supreme Court of Appeal 1 December 2024 - 

Publication Awards, Honours and Other Activities

Accounting teacher (standards 6 and 7): Noordgesig SSS: 1979

Pupil: Johannesburg Society of Advocates: January — to June 1985

Lecturer (Faculty of Law) University of Witwatersrand: January 1994 — June 1994 Small Claims Court Commissioner —

Member of the executive committee of the Medical and Dental Professional Board: 1 April 2000 —2004

Member of the Medical and Dental Professional Board: 2004 - 2007 Member of the Black Advocates Forum (Johannesburg Bar) Member of Advocates for Transformation (AFT) (Johannesburg Bar) Member of the Motion Court Committee (GLD) +- 2011 -

Personal: 

Born 19 August 1965, Durban

Husband: Thero Setiloane

No children

Education:

Bachelor of Arts, University of Natal, Durban (1988)

Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of Natal, Durban (1991)

Master’s in Law (LLM), Georgetown University Law School, Washington, D.C. (1993) (Fulbright Scholar)

National Bar Examination, Johannesburg Bar – completed pupillage under Gilbert Marcus SC (1996)

Professional History:

Research Assistant, Labour Law Unit, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Natal, Durban (1989)

Research Assistant, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Natal, Durban (1990)

Fellowship, Legal Resources Centre, Durban (1991 – July 1992)

Lecturer: co-taught course on Women and the Law with Professor Karen Czapanskiy; University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, USA (1993)

Election Administrator: Independent Electoral Commission, Northern Cape Provincial Office (March 1994 – May 1994)

Senior Research Fellow, Gender Project, Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape (1994 – 1995)

Lecturer, International Human Rights Law, Department of Public Law, University of the Western Cape (1994 – 1995)

Advocate, Constitutional Litigation Unit, Legal Resources Centre, Johannesburg (1996 – 1997)

Law Clerk to Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, Constitutional Court of South Africa (1995)

Practising Advocate, Johannesburg Bar (1997 – 2006, 2010)

Director, Werksmans Advisory Services (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Werksmans Attorneys – employed as in-house counsel in the commercial, litigation, and media and communications law departments (October 2006 – January 2010)

Acting Judge, South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg (1 February 2010 – 30 October 2010)

Judge of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local, and Provincial Divisions (31 October 2010 –

present)

Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal (1 December 2015 – 31 May 2016)

Acting Justice of the Constitutional Court (June 2017 – 31 December 2017)

Acting Judge of the Competition Appeal Court (2018 – 2022)

Acting Judge of the Labour Appeal Court (variously from 2014 – 2022)

Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal 1 December 2022 – 31 March 2023; 1 April- 31 May 2023; 1 June- 30 November 2023

Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, 1 Decemeber 2023

Other Activities: 

Honorary Member: Group One Advocate Chambers, Sandton (2016 – present) 

Member of the Board of Directors: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) (2009 – 2020)

Member of the National Library Advisory Committee for Courts (NLAC)  (2013 – 2022)

Member of Faculty of Judges for the Annual Judges Forum (Stellenbosch) hosted by the Democratic Governance Rights Unit (DGRU-UCT) (2015 – 2018)

Faculty Member – Judicial Institute for Africa (JIFA) (UCT) (2017)

Visiting Scholar/Judge in Residence at New York Law School (NYC) (January 2016 – April 2016)

Member of the Executive Committee (EXCO) of Werksmans Attorneys (2008 – 2010)

Guest Lecturer: Advanced Broadcasting Law, LLM Course, Wits University (2007 – 2008)

Alternate Director on the Board of Directors of ProBono.org (2008 – 2009)

Deputy Chair and Member of the Broadcasting Monitoring and Complaints Committee (BMCC) of ICASA(2003 – 2006)

Honorary Secretary, Executive Committee of the General Council of the Bar (2005 – 2006)

Member of the Executive Committee of Duma Nokwe Group, Sandton (2005 – 2006)

Member of Board of Directors of Agenda: Feminist Media Project & Journal (2005 – 2007)

Member of the Johannesburg Bar Council (AFT Representative) (2002 – 2006)

Member of the Editorial Board of the South African Journal of Human Rights (1997 – 2006)

Member of Selection Panel of De Ru Van Oord Scholarship (Free University, Amsterdam) (1997 – 2006)

Member of Executive Committee of Group One Advocate’s Chambers (2003 – 2004)

Assistant Honorary Secretary, General Council of the Bar (2002 – 2004)

Honorary Secretary of the Johannesburg Bar Council (2001)

Guest Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand, Constitutional Law (LLM) (1997 – 2000)

Member of Editorial Board, Agenda, Journal on Women and Gender. Wrote regular column – Judges and Gender (1991 – 1992)

Assistant Honorary Secretary of the Johannesburg Bar Council (1999)