Personal details

Matric (1982) East Rand High School

Dipl Iuris (1985) University of Western Cape

BA (Law) (1988) University of Western Cape

LLB (1991) University of Western Cape

BA (Hon) Public Administration (1993) University Western Cape

LLM (1995) University of Cape Town

Admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa 2001

Professional history
  • Public Prosecutor: 1986 - Feb 1992
  • Regional Court Control Prosecutor: Jan 1991 - Jan 1992
  • District Magistrate: Criminal, Family and Civil Courts: Feb 1992 - Mar 1997
  • Regional Magistrate: Mar 1997 - Apr 2004
  • Acting Judge; Northern Cape High Court, Kimberly: Apr 2004 - Jun 2005
  • Judge; Free State High Court, Bloemfontein: June 2005
  • Acting Judge; Labour Court: Apr - Jun 2008; Sep - Dec 2009
  • Acting Judge; Labour Appeal Court: Feb - June 2010; Jul - Dec 2012; Aug - Dec 2013
  • Acting Judge; Lesotho High Court & Lesotho Labour Appeal Court: 2010 - Mar 2012
  • Designated Acting Judge; Lesotho Commercial Court: 11 Jul 2012
  • Judge; Labour Appeal Court: Jul 2014 – Jul 2024
  • Acting Judge President; Free State High Court: Feb-Apr 2015; Dec 2016; Jan-Sep 2017; Jun-Nov 2018
  • Acting Judge; Constitutional Court of South Africa: Aug - Dec 2016
  • Deputy Judge President; Free State High Court: Jan 2017 - Nov 2018
  • Acting Judge; Supreme Court of Appeal: Jan-Sep 2022; Oct-Nov 2023
  • Judge President; Free State High Court: 1 Dec 2018 - to date
  • Acting Judge; Supreme Court of Appeal:1 Dec 2024 -
Other Activities

    Peer facilitator, training magistrates and Judges, nationally and internationally, on topics including:

  • Maintenance; Inter-sectionality between HIV/Aids and domestic violence; Domestic violence Act;Social context in judicial decision making; Equality court matters; Human rights in context of criminal matters; Judgement Writing; Sentencing; Social Context in Judicial Decision Making; Adjudication on matters involving the right to equality; Admissibility of electronic evidence; Judicial Accountability and Ethics; Ethics; Social Media and the Judiciary; Judicial Independence.

  • Deputy Chairperson, Magistrates’ Association of South Africa – (Western Cape): 1993 - 1994
  • Member of executive committee, Magistrates’ Association of South Africa: 1994 - 1995
  • Chairperson (Western Cape), Judicial Officers’ Association of South Africa (JOASA): 2000 - 2001
  • National President, Judicial Officers’ Association of South Africa (JOASA): 2002 - 2004
  • President, African Regional Group of the International Association of Judges: 2010 - 2018
  • Currently Hon President, African Regional Group
  • One of the Vice Presidents, International Association of Judges: 2010 - 2018.
  • Board Member: Law, Race and Gender Research Unit (University of Cape Town): 2005
  • Advisory Board Member: Canada – SA – Justice Linkage Project: 2002
  • Member, Free State Centre for Human Rights Advisory Board: 8 Oct 2018 - to date.
  • Chairperson, Malibu Village Residents and Ratepayers’ Association
  • Member, Western Cape Appointments Committee for Magistrates: 2001 - 2004
  • Previously Chairperson, Commission for The Remuneration of Public Office Bearers: 2014 - 2019
  • Member, Judicial Accountability Committee (High Courts)
  • Chairperson, Judicial Accountability Committee for The Lower Courts Member of the Judicial Case Flow Management Committee
  • Board Member, South African Judicial Education Institute
  • Managing Editor, South African Judicial Education Journal
  • Member, The Hague Conference Judges Network since 2019.

Personal details

10 January 1968, Johannesburg

Married Three children

Education
  • Matric: Westerford High School, Cape Town
  • B.A: University of Cape Town (1988)
  • LLB: University of Cape Town (1991)
  • LLM: University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA (summa cum laude) (1997)
Professional history
  • Candidate Attorney and Attorney: Chennells Albertyn, Stellenbosch: 1992-1995.
  • Deputy Director Mediation: Independent Electoral Commission, Western Cape - elections 1994.
  • Legal Researcher: African National Congress Constitutional Commission in Parliament 1995 -1996.
  • Attorney: Legal Resources Centre Constitutional Litigation Unit, Johannesburg 1996 – 1997
  • Commissioner: Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration, Johannesburg 1997 – 2000.
  • Attorney: Haffegee Roskam Savage Attorneys 2000 - 2008.
  • Director: Bowman Gilfillan 2008 - 2012.
  • Arbitrator and mediator on dispute resolution panels including IMSSA, AMSSA, Tokiso, PSCBC, PHWSBC, ELRC, SSSBC, CCMA variously from 1994 - 2012
  • Acting Judge: Labour Court 4th term 2011
  • Acting Judge: Western Cape High Court 4th term 2012 – end 4th term 2014
  • Judge: Western Cape High Court 2015 to date
  • Acting Judge: Labour Appeal Court 2015 to date.
  • Acting Judge: Competition Appeal Court: February 2022 to date.
  • Acting Judge: Supreme Court of Appeal: 1 April 2022 – 31 May 2022.
Other Activities
  • Board Member: Southern African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII) 2004 to date
  • Trustee: Constitutional Court Trust until 2019
  • Member of South African Society for Labour Law to date.

Abbreviated Biography – Acting Justice Opperman J

Judge Ingrid Opperman qualified in 1988 with a B.Com LLB from the University of Johannesburg. From 1985 to 1986 she was the chairwoman of the UJ Law Society.

She spent a year after she qualified as a public prosecutor and then in 1990, commenced pupillage at the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.

The early days of her practice were dedicated mainly to criminal defence work for members of communities in the Northern Cape engaged in resistance to the apartheid state. She worked on defending those accused of public violence, intimidation and related charges. They arose from the efforts of those communities to resist the structures of the apartheid state in its dying days. She also did work in Western Gauteng, primarily in Carletonville, representing in inquests, families who had lost children in police custody. During this time she was a member of Lawyers for Human Rights.

During 1994 her practice shifted to mainly general commercial law with a fair amount of asset-finance based litigation for banks.

She married Les Morison, now an SC, and they have two daughters. Senior counsel status was conferred upon her on 16 September 2014 whereafter, as is the tradition at the bar, she started taking acting appointments. She came to appreciate the challenges and rewards of judicial office in that time and decided to avail herself for appointment as a permanent judge of the High Court of South Africa and was appointed as such during January 2017. She sees judicial office as an opportunity to serve her country and in particular, to apply the law to address injustices both past and present.