Capacity: Judge
First appointed as a judge: July 2021 (North West Division, Mahikeng)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Date of Birth: July 1972
Qualifications: B.Iuris (1999), LLB (2001) (University of South Africa)
Key Judgments
- Strydom v Coomans (M533/2021) [2024] ZANWHC 6; 2024 (4) SA 302 (NWM)
- Appolus v Naledi Local Municipality (UM199/2023; UM53/2023) [2024] ZANWHC 79 (confirmed on appeal: Naledi Local Municipality v Appolus [2025] ZASCA 171)
- Venter v Steyn 2023 JDR 2718 (NWM) (confirmed on appeal: Steyn v Venter [2025] ZASCA 59; 2025 (5) SA 140 (SCA))
- Jomane Eiendomme (Pty) Ltd v Van Zyl NO (M348/2020) [2023] ZANWHC 92 (confirmed on appeal: Jomane Eiendomme (Pty) Ltd v Magistrate Van Zyl [2025] ZASCA 109)
- Joubert v Louw (CIV APP RC 08/2022) [2023] ZANWHC 102 (22 June 2023)
Candidate Biography | Updated August 2026:
Judge Frances Maria Magrietha Reid is a permanent judge of the North West Division of the High Court.
Judge Reid has been sitting in the Gauteng Division since 2025 and now seeks permanent appointment there.
Formerly an Advocate prior to her appointment to the Bench, she completed her LLB at the University of South Africa in 2001 and joined the Pretoria Bar as a junior advocate in 2002.
Judge Reid began her career in 1992 when she joined the South African Police Service (SAPS) as a constable. By 1997, she had risen to the rank of captain. Her service record also includes a medal for ten years of Faithful Service and Exemplary Conduct.
She worked, among others, as junior counsel to the late Judge BR Tokota, and eventually took silk in 2018, by which time she was also accepting acting appointments in the Gauteng Division at Pretoria and Johannesburg, until finally receiving her permanent appointment as a judge of the North West Division, Mahikeng, on 1 July 2021.
On the North West Bench, Reid has built a body of well-regarded judgments, several upheld on appeal, and has handed down over 100 reported judgments.
Her most significant judgments include Strydom and Another v Coomans and Others, where she considered a request for reasons after the applicants’ attorney sought reasons for a judgment in which the court had already provided detailed written reasons. She criticised the request as a thoughtless and frivolous use of court process, emphasising that such practices waste judicial resources and may unfairly burden clients with additional legal fees. Acting in the interests of justice, Judge Reid ordered that the attorney was not entitled to charge the client for preparing or pursuing the request for reasons. This case was discussed in several legal publications, including Erasmus, Superior Court Practice.
In Appolus and Others v Naledi Local Municipality and Others, Judge Reid considered the interaction between sections 18(3) and 18(4) of the Superior Courts Act after an order setting aside the appointment of a municipal manager was made immediately enforceable pending appeal. She held that the applicants could not obtain a separate declaratory order that the respondents’ section 18(4) appeal had lapsed, but that the subsequent grant of leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal governed the further appeal process. Judge Reid accordingly confirmed that the order setting aside the municipal manager’s appointment remained enforceable pending finalisation of the appeal. The Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously confirmed her decision. Her judgment in Venter v Steyn was likewise upheld by the SCA.
Notably, her decisions have shown a positive trend of confirmation on appeal to the SCA, which has also upheld her judgment in Jomane Eiendomme v Van Zyl, a review in which she held that a magistrate who rescinds a consent judgment under section 58 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act may, on rescission, direct the plaintiff to file a declaration so the action can proceed, since rule 49(1) allows rescission ‘on such terms as [the court] deems fit’. The SCA dismissed the further appeal. She has also sat on full-bench appeals, among them Joubert v Louw, and reviewed municipal tender awards.
Since April 2025, Reid has, with the permission of both Judges President, executed her duties in the Gauteng Division, where she sits on an acting basis.
Judge Reid’s interest in legal education has continued alongside her judicial duties. From 2021 to 2024, Reid volunteered as a judge in moot court training sessions for pupils at North-West University. In May 2026, she similarly participated in moot court training at the Tshwane Association of Advocates. Her involvement in North-West University’s practical legal training has also included sitting on the judicial panel for its mock trial programme.
Reid is also a member of SAC-IAWJ, and beyond the legal profession, her community involvement has included membership of Help4Souls, a non-profit organisation which raised funds during the COVID-19 pandemic to purchase food for people in need as well as animals.
Reid comes before the JSC not as an aspirant but as a sitting judge of some five years’ standing, seeking to move her permanent seat to Gauteng. The question for the Commission is likely to be less about capability than about the basis for, and merits of, the transfer.
October 2026 JSC Interview
Following its deliberations, the JSC recommended Judge Reid for appointment to the Gauteng High Court.