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Adv Denise Greyling-Coetzer

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Adv D Greyling-Coetzer_8188

Capacity: Advocate
Admission as an advocate: August 2010 (Free State Society of Advocates)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Date of Birth: August 1983
Qualifications: LLB (2008) (UFS)

Key Judgments:

 

Candidate Biography (updated August 2025):

Advocate Denise Greyling-Coetzer is currently a practicing advocate and member of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.

She was born in Bloemfontein in 1983. Greyling-Coetzer obtained her LLB from the University of the Free State in 2008, and was thereafter employed as a legal research assistant with the institution. Before being admitted as an advocate with the Free State Society, she completed her practical vocational training. She gained admission in 2010, and subsequently joined the Johannesburg Bar in 2013.

Her practice as an advocate includes commercial litigation, family law, and contractual rights disputes, predominantly in the High Court. She gained experience in labour law by acting for employers, employees and trade unions in the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Labour Court.

Whilst remaining a practicing member of the Johannesburg Bar, she joined the Mpumalanga Society of Advocates in 2018. In 2019 she was accepted into the Judicial Skills Training Programme presented by NADEL, LEAD and the LSSA, and it was her exposure to this programme that played a major role in her accepting her first acting appointment as a judge in April 2020 in the Mpumalanga High Court. Since then, she has acted for 11 different stints in the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court, the most recent being from 6 to 19 January 2024, as well as for 4 different stints in the Free State Division of the High Court since 2024, the most recent being 17 to 20 June 2025. In total, over the past 5 years, she has acted as a judge for approximately 154 weeks.

Advocate Greyling-Coetzer is also the Chairperson of the Tax Board established in terms of section 111 of the Tax Administration Act, as well as being a Mentorship Coordinator for the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ).

As an Acting Judge, Advocate Greyling-Coetzer has a few reported judgments. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has upheld her decisions numerous times on appeal, in particular in the matter of Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (Pty) Ltd v Vantage Goldfields SA (Pty) Ltd. In this case, which involved a share sale agreement that was declared void due to the non-fulfilment of suspensive conditions. Application for leave to appeal was dismissed by Greyling-Coetzer, who noted that the original sale of shares agreement had lapsed due to unfulfilled conditions, and emphasised that new arguments or facts could not be introduced at an appeal stage unless previously pleaded. The SCA upheld the High Court’s decision, finding that the agreement had lapsed and could not be revived by subsequent addenda.

In Barkhuizen-Barbosa N.O v Phelemba, the applicant had obtained leave to appeal against the dismissal of her eviction application. She then filed her notice of appeal 22 court days after leave to appeal was granted. As she had not complied with the provisions of Rule 49(6)(a), in that she did not make written application to the Registrar for a date of hearing of the appeal, the appeal lapsed. The present condonation application was launched one year and six months after the appeal lapsed. The applicant also sought reinstatement of the lapsed appeal. In dismissing the application, Advocate Greyling-Coetzer held that in terms of Rule 49(6)(b) of the Uniform Rules of Court the court to which the appeal is made may on application and upon good cause shown, reinstate an appeal which has lapsed. In the present matter, such court was the full court, which is a court consisting of three judges, in accordance with section 1 of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013. Advocate Greyling-Coetzer stated that the circumstances of the matter did not justify the referral of the matter to the full court for determination. It would not be in the interest of justice considering the inordinate delay in finalisation of the application and the intended appeal.

Although she only began acting as a judge in 2020, Advocate Greyling-Coetzer’s judgments are well written and concise, and as stated above, have more often than not been upheld by the SCA. It will therefore be interesting to see if, given the experience she has obtained since her 2021 interview was unsuccessful, she stands a better chance this time around to be appointed to the Free State Division of the High Court.

 

October 2025 JSC Interview

Following deliberations, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) resolved to recommend Advocate D Greyling-Coetzer for appointment in the Free State Division of the High Court.

October 2021 JSC Interview
Interview of Adv Denise Greyling-Coetzer by the JSC, October 2021, for a position on the Mpumalanga High Court

Adv Greyling-Coetzer’s application was unsuccessful.