Personal details

Date of birth:13 February 1968

Place of birth: Moletši, Polokwane, Limpopo Province

Marital Status: Widower (Deceased Wife Malesetja Makgoka)

Children: Kholo - Daughter (Chartered Accountant) and Ayanda - Son (Practising Attorney).

Education

• Matric: Hwiti High School, Limpopo Province
• B. Proc (1992) University of the North, Limpopo Province
• LLB (2021) University of South Africa

Professional history

• Acting Justice: Constitutional Court: 01 February 2023 - 31 May 2023
• Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeal: 1 June 2018 to date
• Acting Justice: Supreme Court of Appeal: October 2017 - May 2018
• Acting Justice: Supreme Court of Appeal: June - November 2016
• Acting Judge: Labour Appeal Court: June - November 2015
• Acting Judge: Lesotho High Court, Constitutional Division: April 2015
• Judge: High Court Gauteng Division: August 2009 - May 2018
• Acting Judge: High Court, Transvaal Provinial Division: 2007
• Practising Attorney, Pretoria: 1994 – 2007
• Articles of Clerkship, Pretoria: 1992 - 1993

Seminars Attended

• Judicial Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights and Public Health, January 2012, Elmina, Ghana
• Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESSAAMLG) Judicial Regional Retreat, 13-15 July 2015, Swakopmund, Namibia.
• WIPO Judges Master Dialogue on Intellectual Property Adjudication - Perspective on ntellectual Property: 16 - 19 September 2019, United States of  America
• WIPO Intellectual Property Judges Forum: Promoting Transnational Dialogue Among Judiciaries 13 -15 November 2019, Geneva, Swizerland.

Papers Authored

Author of the following lecture notes for aspirant and newly appointed judges:

• Managing the Unopposed Motion Court, 2014;
• National Credict Act: A Practical Approach, 2014;
• Managing the Opposed Motion Court, 2016;
• Aspects of Constitutional Litigation, 2016
• Practical Aspects on Judgment Writting, 2020

Other Activities

• Lecturer: Legal Education and Development (LEAD) Pretoria Law School, 2006 – 2018.
• Member: Disciplinary Committee: Law Society of the Northern Provinces: 2006–2007.
• Chairperson: Loreto School Parents Association, Queenswood, Pretoria: 2006–2008.
• Member: Board of Governors: Loreto School, Queenswood, Pretoria: 2009-2021.
• Member and Lecturer: Black Lawyers Association-Legal Education Centre (BLA-LEC): 2010 to date.
• Chancellor: Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Diocese of Pretoria: 2012 to date.
• Guest Lecturer: Pretoria Society of Advocates on the National Credit Act: 2012–2019.
• Lecturer:  Aspirant Judges (Law Society of the Northern Provinces): 2014 - 2018.
• Lecturer: Aspirant Judges: South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI): 2018 to date.
• Member: Editorial Committee of the South African Institute of Judicial Education Journal: 2016 to date.
• Member: Editorial Team, Journal of the Southern Chapter of the International Association of Women 2019 to date.
• Convener: Research and Publications Committee of the BLA-LEC: 2018 to date.
• Member: Judcial Conduct Committee: 2019 - 2022.
• Member: Advisory Board of Judges, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO): 2020-2021.

Awards and Honours

• Most Inspiring Lecturer, Legal Education and Development, Pretoria Law School, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013.
• Certificate of Recognition by Law Society of the Northern Provinces for contribution to Judicial Skills Training for aspirant judges: August 2015.
• Certificate of Appreciation by Law Society of South Africa for contribution in the training of candidate attorneys and development of School for Legal Practice in South Africa: September 2015.
• Certificate of Appreciation: Black Lawyers Association (2019 and 2020).

Personal details

Born: Manzini, eSwatini on 10 July 1960

Citizenship: South African

Married to Raylene Keightley, Judge of the High Court, Gauteng Division, Johannesburg. Have 3 adult sons

Education

1. Malkerns Valley School, Malkerns, eSwatini.
2. Clifton Preparatory School, Nottingham Road.
3. St Alban’s College, Pretoria.

University degrees:

1. Bachelor of Commerce (B. Comm) (University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg) 1980 – 1982
2. Bachelor of Laws (Ll.B) (cum laude) (University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg) 1983 – 1984
3. Master of Laws (Ll.M) (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom) 1987-1988
4. Postgraduate Diploma in Tax Law (University of Cape Town) 1992

Professional history

Attorney

• Served articles of clerkship from January 1985 to January 1987 with attorneys Mallinick, Ress, Richman and      Closenberg, Cape Townk
• Admitted as an attorney in 1987
• Appointed head of the Public Interest Law Dept at Mallinicks 1988.
• Appointed a director/partner of Mallinicks in 1992

Judge / adjudication

• Judge of the Land Claims Court from 1995 to 2000
• Chairperson of Housing and Property Claims Commission established by the United Nations Human      Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to adjudicate post-conflict property and housing claims in Kosovo 2000     - 2007
• Acting judge of the Constitutional Court, 1-30 November 2023
• Acting judge, High Court, Gauteng Division for 4 weeks in 2012, 4 weeks in 2014, 2 weeks in 2015, 4 weeks       in 2018, 2 weeks in 2021, 4 weeks in 2023
• Acting judge, Land Claims Court for 4 weeks in 2017

Recommended by the Judicial Services Commission in April 2022 as one of four candidates for appointment to one post on the Constitutional Court in terms of section 174(4)(a) of the Constitution.

Advocate

• Practising advocate and member of the Johannesburg Bar since July 2001
• Director of Litigation, Constitutional Litigation Unit, Legal Resources Centre, Johannesburg 2004 - 2006
• Appointed senior counsel 2011
• Member of Island Group of Advocates from 2001 to 2012
• Member of Victoria Mxenge Group of Advocates since 2013

Other positions held

• Served as a board member of the Surplus People Project. The Surplus People Project is a non-governmental      organisation which was involved in opposing forced removals, and promoting housing and                                        development-related issues affecting the poor.
• Served as a Trustee of the Richtersveld Community Trust. This trust distributed funds for education of young         persons in the Richtersveld community and for development projects.
• Chaired drafting committee which drafted National Forests Act 84 of 1998 and National Veld and Forest Fire        Act 101 of 1998.
• Served as chairperson of the National Forests Advisory Council established in terms of section 33 of the                National Forests Act (1999 – 2003).
• Vice chairperson: Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors Disciplinary Committee (2006 - 2011)
• Chairperson: Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors Disciplinary Committee (2011 -2020)
• Member of the Minister of Justice’s Reference Group on Land Justice (2019-2020)

Academic Work

Written chapters in the following books

• Murray and O’Regan (eds) No Place to Rest: Forced Removals and the Law in SA 1990 (OUP) - a chapter on          the Group Areas Act.
• Ramphele and Mc Dowell (eds) Restoring the Land : Environment and Change in Post-Apartheid South Africa      1991 (Panos) - a chapter on Environmental Law.
• S Leckie (ed) Housing and Property Restitution: A Comparative Analysis (Transnational Publishers)
• Walker et al Land, Memory, Reconstruction and Justice: Perspectives on Land Claims in South Africa (Ohio)           2010

Journal articles:

• The Right to Housing as a Basic Human Right and the Law Relating to Informal Settlement in The Human              Rights and Constitutional Law Journal of Southern Africa (1996)12 Annual Survey Chapter on Civil and                  Constitutional Procedure and Jurisdiction 2002 –2006.
• The Natives Land Act of 1913 and its Legacy Article written for Advocate magazine on the centenary of the          passing of the Act in 2013. The article also deals with the role of Solomon Tshekeisho Plaatje in documenting        the pernicious effects of the Act and in resisting it

Conference and workshop papers and similar:

• Presented paper on restitution in South Africa and Kosovo at International Bar Association Conference in                Prague September 2005,
• Presented lecture on post-conflict property issues at European Union Course on the Rule of Law and Post-            conflict Societies at Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden April 2006 Presented paper on post-restitution                support at land restitution conference in Cape Town in September 2006.
• Presented lecture on land restitution at workshop in Bogota, Colombia in September 2009
• Presented paper entitled Land Reform in South Africa and Kosovo: Possible Lessons for Zimbabwe at                        workshop for Zimbabwean human rights lawyers, University of Witwatersrand, October 2011
• Prepared submissions for the Foundation for Human Rights to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and                        Constitutional Development concerning the incompatibility of the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Bill          and Superior Courts Bill with principles of judicial independence. Co-drafted a Courts Administration Bill for          the creation of an independently administered judiciary (not adopted).
• Participated in workshop and prepared submissions on developing alternatives to current land reform laws            which were submitted to Parliament’s High Level Panel on the Assessment of Key Legislation and the                     Acceleration of Fundamental Change: Working Group on Land Reform, Restitution and Security of Tenure              2017. Also prepared draft Bill entitled Restitution of Land Rights Judicial Amendment Bill as part of the               process.
• Presented paper at Contested Histories Workshop entitled Flawed Marriages, Difficult Divorces: Conflict in            process Land Trusts and CPAs, Land and Accountability Research Centre, UCT, November 2017.
• Presented paper at Legal Resources Centre 2020 AGM on Alternative Dispute Resolution in the context of            land reform and the new Land Court Bill.

Personal details

12 August 1963
Married with three children

Education

• BA (cum laude): University of the Witwatersrand, 1984
• BA (Hons) (cum laude): University of the Witwatersrand, 1985
• LlB (cum laude): University of the Witwatersrand, 1990

Professional history

Professional Experience

• 1992-1994: Lecturer in Delict and Constitutional Law, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand
• 1995-2000: Head, Constitutional Law Project, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
• 2001 – present: Advocate practicing at the Johannesburg Bar
• 2009: Awarded Senior Counsel status
• 2011: Founder member of Victoria Mxenge Group
• 2012-2014: Evidence leader at Marikana Commission
• 2018: Founder member of Pan African Bar Association of South Africa
• 2019-2021: Evidence leader at State Capture Commission

Judicial Experience

• 2023: Acting Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa for 4th term 2023
• 2024: Acting Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa 1stterm 2024

Major Professional Publications

• Editor of Constitutional Law of South Africa Cape Town, Juta (looseleaf) first edition 1996, revision services 1 – 5 and second edition, 1997 – 2008
• Co-author of South African Mineral and Petroleum Law (M Daleed) Juta first edition and revision services 1-6 2006 - 2008

Professional Appearances: A list of appearances in the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal is attached

Constitutional Court

• Amod v Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund 1998 (4) SA 753 (CC)
• August v Electoral Commission 1999 (3) SA 1 (CC)
• Beinash v Ernst & Young 1999 (2) SA 116 (CC)
• Bhe v Magistrate, Khayelitsha 2005 (1) SA 580 (CC)
• Certification of Constitution of the RSA 1996 1996 (4) SA 744 (CC)
• Chagi and Others v Special Investigating Unit 2009 (2) SA 1 (CC)
• Chairperson, Council of the University of South Africa v Afriforum NPC 2022 (2) SA 1 (CC)
• Certification of Constitution of the RSA 1996 1996 (4) SA 744 (CC)
• Corruption Watch NPC v President of the RSA 2018 (2) SACR 442 (CC)
• Daniels v Campbell NO 2004 (5) SA 331 (CC)
• Du Toit v Minister of Welfare & Population Development 2003 (2) SA 198 (CC)
• Economic Freedom Fighters v Gordhan and Others 2020 (6) SA 325 (CC)
• Exec Council, Western Cape v Minister of Provincial Affairs & Constit Dev 2000 (1) SA 661 (CC)
• Fedsure Life Assurance Ltd v Greater Johannesburg TMC 1999 (1) SA 374 (CC)
• Giddey NO v JC Barnard & Partners 2007 (5) SA 525 (CC)
• Gory v Kolver NO and Others (Starke and Others Intervening) 2007 (4) SA 97 (CC)
• F v Minister of Safety & Security 2013 (2) SACR 20 (CC)
• Fraser v Children's Court, Pretoria North 1997 (2) SA 261 (CC)
• Investigating Directorate: Serious Economic Offences v Hyundai Motor Distributors (Pty) Ltd 2001 (1) SA 545 (CC)
• Islamic Unity Convention v Independent Broadcasting Authority 2002 (4) SA 294 (CC)
• Khumalo v Holomisa 2002 (5) SA 401 (CC)
• Ledla Structural Development (Pty) Ltd and Others v Special Investigating Unit GP 07/2020 (SpT) 2023 (2) SACR 1 (CC)
• Masetlha v President of the Republic of South Africa and Another 2008 (1) SA 566 (CC)
• MEC for Development Planning & Local Govt, Gauteng v Democratic Party 1998 (4) SA 1157 (CC)
• Mighty Solutions t/a Orlando Service Station v Engen Petroleum Ltd 2016 (1) SA 621 (CC)
• Minister of Education v Harris 2001 (4) SA 1297 (CC)
• Minister of Finance v Van Heerden 2004 (6) SA 121 (CC)
• Minister of Safety & Security, Ex p: In re S v Walters 2002 (4) SA 613 (CC)
• Minister of Safety & Security v SA Hunters & Game Conservation Assoc 2018 (2) SACR 164 (CC)
• National Coalition for Gay & Lesbian Equality v Minister of Justice 1999 (1) SA 6 (CC)
• Phillips v DPP, Witwatersrand Local Division 2003 (3) SA 345 (CC)
• Phillips v NDPP 2006 (1) SA 505 (CC)
• President of the RSA v SARFU 1999 (2) SA 14 (CC)
• President of the RSA v SARFU 1999 (4) SA 147 (CC)
• President of the RSA v SARFU 2000 (1) SA 1 (CC)
• Pretorius v Transport Pension Fund 2019 (2) SA 37 (CC)
• S v Baloyi (Minister of Justice Intervening) 2000 (2) SA 425 (CC)
• S v Jordan (Sex Workers Education & Advocacy Task Force as Amici Curiae) 2002 (6) SA 642 (CC)
• S v Mamabolo (E TV Intervening) 2001 (3) SA 409 (CC)
• SA Association of Personal Injury Lawyers v Heath 2001 (1) SA 883 (CC)
• SA Human Rights Commission v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd and Others 2023 (3) SA 36 (CC)
• SANDU v Minister of Defence 1999 (4) SA 469 (CC)
• SANDU v Minister of Defence 2007 (5) SA 400 (CC)
• Shabangu v Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa 2020 (1) SA 305 (CC)
• Speaker of the KZN Legislature: re KZN Amakhosi & Iziphakanyiswa Amendment Bill of 1995 1996 (4) SA 653 (CC)
• Speaker, KZN Legislature: re Certification of the KZN Constitution, 1996 1996 (4) SA 1098 (CC)
• Telkom SA SOC Limited v City of Cape Town and Another 2021 (1) SA 1 (CC)
• Van der Walt v Metcash Trading Ltd 2002 (4) SA 317 (CC)

Supreme Court of Appeal

• Amod v Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents 1999 (4) SA 1319 (SCA)S v Western Areas Ltd and Others 2005 (5) SA 214 (SCA)
• Associated Institutions Pension Fund v Le Roux 2001 (4) SA 262 (SCA)
• Associated Institutions Pension Fund v Van Zyl 2005 (2) SA 302 (SCA)
• Bid Industrial Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Strang and Another 2008 (3) SA 355 (SCA)
• Cape Killarney Property Investments (Pty) Ltd v Mahamba 2001 (4) SA 1222 (SCA)
• Commissioner, SARS v Hawker Air Services (Pty) Ltd 2006 (4) SA 292 (SCA)
• Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd v Resilient Prop (Pty) Ltd 2021 (3) SA 47 (SCA)
• Fedsure Life Assurance Ltd v Greater Johannesburg TMC 1998 (2) SA 1115 (SCA)
• Knoop NO and Others v National Director of Public Prosecutions; [2024] 1 All SA 50 (SCA)
• Minister of Defence and Others v South African National Defence Union 2007 (1) SA 422 (SCA)
• Mthembu v Letsela 2000 (3) SA 867 (SCA)
• National Commissioner of Police v Gun Owners of SA 2021 (1) SACR 44 (SCA)
• National Council of SPCA v Openshaw 2008 (5) SA 339 (SCA)
• Naude v Fraser 1998 (4) SA 539 (SCA)
• NDPP v King 2010 (2) SACR 146 (SCA)
• NUMSA v Fry's Metals (Pty) Ltd 2005 (5) SA 433 (SCA)
• SANDU v Minister of Defence; Minister of Defence v SANDU 2007 (1) SA 402 (SCA)
• Speaker of the National Assembly v De Lille 1999 (4) SA 863 (SCA)
• Standard Bank of SA Ltd v Mpongo 2021 (6) SA 403 (SCA)
• Trustees, Burmilla Trust and Another v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others 2022 (5) SA 78 (SCA)

Personal details

9 September 1975, Johannesburg (born)

Husband: Dr Reuven Ziegler

Education

1994 – 1996 – Bachelor of Arts (University of the Witwatersrand)

1997 – Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (University of the Witwatersrand)

1998 – 1999 – Bachelor of Laws (University of the Witwatersrand)

2000 – 2001 – Master of Philosophy (University of Cambridge)

2001 – 2004 – Doctorate of Philosophy (University of Cambridge)

Professional history

Other Activities

Membership of Legal Organisations

Membership of Community, Academic and other organisations

Honours and Awards 

• Society of Advocates Prize (to the best final year LLB Student): 1999
• Skye Foundation Scholarship: 2000
• Bradlow Foundation Scholarship: 2000 - 2003
• Awarded Research Fellowship, University of Sydney: 2009
• Included on the list of top 200 Young South Africans by Mail and Guardian: 2010
• Received an NRF rating as an internationally acclaimed researcher: 2012 and 2019
• Elected as a member of the South African Young Academy of Science: 2015       
• Received a Georg Forster Fellowship from the Von Humboldt Foundation: 2016
• Appointed Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore: 2016
• Visiting Research Professor, Humboldt University of Berlin: 2017 – 2018
• Visiting Research Professor, Minerva Center for Human Rights, Tel Aviv University: 2018
• Elected Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa: 2020

Publications

Acting Justice Bilchitz has written two monographs, edited five collections (with others), co-authored one textbook, written 41 journal articles (including case notes) and 28 book chapters. Some examples of his book publications are below: for a full list click here

BOOKS

1. Poverty and Fundamental Rights: The Justification and Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2007) (provides a justification for socio-economic rights, that recognises their urgency and importance and develops a legal doctrinal approach to give effect to them; consideration is also given to the policy implications of these rights). 

2. Fundamental Rights and the Legal Obligations of Business (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2021) (develops a legal analytical framework for determining the substantive content of corporate obligations with respect to fundamental rights).  

EDITED COLLECTIONS

1. Is this Seat Taken? Conversations at the Bar, the Bench and the Academy about the South African Constitution (with Stuart Woolman) (Pretoria University Law Press, 2012) (edited volume of essays).

2. Human Rights Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect? (with Surya Deva) (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2013)

3. Building a Treaty on Business and Human Rights: Context and Contours (with Surya Deva) (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2017).

4. The Evolution of the Separation of Powers: Concept and Practice (With David Landau) (Edward Elgar, 2018). 

5. Transitional Justice, Distributive Justice and Transformative Constitutionalism: Comparing Colombia and South Africa (with Raisa Cachalia) (Oxford University Press, December 2023).