Judges Matter -

Enter your keyword

Judge Esther Johanna Steyn

  • Home
  • Judge Esther Johanna Steyn
Judge ES Steyn 3437

Capacity: Judge
First appointed as a judge: January 2009 (KwaZulu-Natal High Court)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Date of Birth: August 1962
Qualifications: B.Iuris (1984) (UNISA), LLB (1992) (UWC), LLM (1999) (UCT)

Key judgments:

Candidate Biography | Updated August 2026:

Judge Esther Steyn serves as a judge on the KwaZulu-Natal High Court bench in Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

Judge Esther Steyn’s legal career spans 46 years, including 17 years on the bench following her appointment to the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in 2009. During her time on the bench, Judge Steyn has been an acting judge of the Electoral Court, an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal for periods starting in April 2025 until present, as well as two stints as Acting Deputy Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court. With all of this experience under her belt, she has set her sights on being appointed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Her career encompasses criminal litigation, academic scholarship, and judicial service. She has worked as a prosecutor, magistrate, lecturer, and judge, reflecting experience in both the practical and academic dimensions of the law.

Raised in Cape Town’s northern suburbs, she began her legal career in 1980 as a Department of Justice clerk handling criminal and civil matters. From 1984–1986, she worked as a district court prosecutor before serving as a district court magistrate for three years, starting in 1987.

Returning to prosecution from 1991–1995 at Goodwood and Wynberg criminal courts, Steyn later transitioned to academia. In 1996, she joined the University of Cape Town’s criminal justice department as senior lecturer, teaching criminal law, evidence, and criminology. She also taught at the University of the Western Cape, publishing articles on pre-trial detention, trial delays, and constitutional rights alongside criminologist Prof Dirk van Zyl Smit.

Steyn served as an assessor in criminal trials (1996–2002), participated in investigating People Against Gangsterism and Drugs-related vigilante murders, and contributed to the Jali Commission examining corruption in correctional services (2002–2005). Following the Aspirant Women Judges programme in 2007, she held acting judgeships before permanent appointment on 1 January 2009.

As a judge, Steyn has authored judgments across administrative, constitutional, property, and civil procedure law, with her most substantial contributions in criminal law and procedure. In Naidoo v Regional Magistrate, she determined whether magistrates’ courts possess jurisdiction to entertain stay applications absent statutory authorisation. She concluded that “magistrates’ courts are creatures of statute” lacking inherent jurisdiction and found the regional magistrate’s court lacked authority to hear the application.

In State v Zuma, Steyn joined two senior judges in rejecting former President Jacob Zuma’s request to stay fraud, corruption, and money laundering proceedings. The court dismissed the application, highlighting the seriousness of Zuma’s offences and explaining that even if Zuma’s claims were true, they were “not aimed at the merits of the case,” and the prosecution remained justified because there were “reasonable and probable grounds” for prosecuting him.

Her groundbreaking CMC Woodworking Machinery judgment authorised serving court documents via Facebook messenger after two years of unsuccessful attempts to locate the defendant. The judgment reflects a tech-forward approach to substituted service and drew significant attention from the legal community, including coverage in the Stellenbosch Law Review, Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg, and Tech4Law.

Outside judicial work, Steyn served as vice-chair and occasional chair of the National Council of Correctional Services (2015–2019), advising on correctional and sentencing policy. She has participated in various KZN High Court committees addressing budgets, criminal case management, acting judges, and research.

Steyn holds a B.Iuris from Unisa (1984), an LLB from UWC (1992), and an LLM from UCT (1999).

According to Steyn, one of her most significant contributions to the law extend beyond individual rulings to the daily work of being a judge in South Africa’s democratic order. She has also focused on mentoring acting judges, contributing to judicial training, and teaching university students, instilling in them an understanding that the law does not operate in isolation and that legal practitioners are part of the broader South African society. Throughout her career, Steyn has demonstrated a commitment to the law, judicial service, and legal education, with contributions that have shaped both practice and scholarship in South Africa.

She applied for appointment as Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal Division and interviewed before the JSC in October 2022; her campaign was unsuccessful. She has since broadened her experience at the top of the court structure. She acted in the Electoral Court (2024–2025), served as Acting Deputy Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court (2025), and acted as a Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal (2025–2026).

She now comes before the JSC nominated for a permanent seat on the Supreme Court of Appeal.

 

April 2026 Interview

Following deliberations, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has decided that it will not recommend Judge Esther Johanna Sophia Steyn for a position on the Supreme Court of Appeal. Judge Steyn’s interview was unsuccessful. She was not nominated for appointment.

October 2022 Interview

October 2022 JSC interview of Judge Esther Johanna Sophia Steyn for the position of Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court. Judge Steyn’s application was unsuccessful.