Two Pietermaritzburg High Court judges, Nkosinathi Chili and Esther Steyn, have been shortlisted for appointment to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has named six judges as candidates to fill three SCA vacancies. Alongside Chili and Steyn, the shortlist includes Judges Gerald Hercules Bloem (Free State), Thandi Victoria Norman (Eastern Cape), and Gauteng judges Bashier Vally and Leonie Windell.
The nominations place both KZN judges among the country’s top legal minds under consideration for elevation to one of South Africa’s highest courts. Judge Chili, who serves in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, is presiding over the long-running arms deal corruption case involving former president Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales. He was appointed to the bench in 2014.
His legal career reflects a steady rise through the justice system. He began as a court interpreter before moving into prosecution, later serving as a senior state advocate. He was appointed as a magistrate in 2005 and has since built a decade-long record as a High Court judge.
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He has also occasionally acted as deputy judge president in the KZN Division. Last year, he was shortlisted for the deputy judge president position, underlining his standing within the judiciary. Judge Steyn, who serves in both the Durban and Pietermaritzburg High Courts, brings decades of legal and academic experience to the shortlist.
Born and raised in Cape Town, Steyn began her legal career in the Department of Justice shortly after matric, working as a court clerk before becoming a district court prosecutor. She was first appointed to the bench as a magistrate in 1987, later returning to prosecution before moving into academia. In 1996, she joined the University of Cape Town as a senior lecturer in criminal justice, teaching criminal law, evidence and criminology, and also lectured at the University of the Western Cape.
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