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Advocate Michael Walter Janisch SC

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  • Advocate Michael Walter Janisch SC

Capacity: Advocate
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Date of Birth: July 1968
Qualifications: BA (1989) LLB (1991) (University of Cape Town), LLM (1993) (University of Regensburg)

Key Judgements:

Candidate Biography | Updated August 2026

Advocate Michael Walter Janisch SC is an admitted advocate and a member of the Cape Bar.

Adv Janisch began his legal career in 1993 as an in-house corporate legal adviser at Gold Fields of South Africa Limited. He was subsequently admitted as an advocate and joined the Cape Bar in 1999, where he has practised to date. In 2015, Adv Janisch became Senior Counsel. Despite having a diverse litigation practice, Adv Janisch focuses significantly on tax law, for which he completed a Higher Diploma in Taxation at Wits University in 1995.

Adv Janisch has vast experience and has appeared in the High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal, Constitutional Court and Tax Court. He has also gained judicial experience through acting appointments from October to December 2024 and again from January to March 2026. He has presided in the Tax Court and has also heard criminal and bail appeals.

While sitting at the Western Cape High Court, Janisch presided over Cellucity (Pty) Ltd v Phillpson-Garcia and Others. In this case, the Court dealt with an application arising from the alleged misappropriation of the applicant’s funds by its former employee, the first respondent. The Court found that the first respondent had falsified supplier invoices, inflated the amounts payable and substituted the suppliers’ banking details with those of a company under her control. This resulted in the misappropriation of R10,184,455.95, which the first respondent did not meaningfully dispute. The Court accordingly granted judgment for that amount.

The principal issue concerned the granting of anti-dissipation relief over the first respondent’s bank accounts and immovable properties. Acting Judge Janisch held that the applicant had established a clear connection between the misappropriated funds and properties acquired by the first respondent and characterised the claim as quasi-vindicatory. Consequently, it was unnecessary to prove an intention to dissipate the assets in order to obtain the interdict. The Court interdicted the first respondent from dealing with the identified assets pending recovery proceedings, while dismissing the application against the second to fourth respondents because the requirements for an anti-dissipation interdict against them had not been established.

In Badenhorst v De Kock, the Western Cape High Court considered an application under section 424 of the Companies Act 61 of 1973. The applicant sought to hold the respondent, the sole director and shareholder of Good Hope Holdings (Pty) Ltd (“GHH”), personally liable for GHH’s indebtedness to her.

Adv Janisch found that the respondent had acted recklessly in conducting GHH’s business. In particular, he caused GHH to assume substantial obligations despite having no reliable or reasonable prospect of meeting them, and continued to operate the company while it was commercially insolvent. Adv Janisch held that his conduct amounted at least to gross negligence and fell within section 424, warranting personal liability for GHH’s debt. The Court ultimately declared the respondent personally responsible for the outstanding debt, subject to the applicable calculation of the amount owing.

While Adv Janisch has had an extensive legal career, he has acted at the Western Cape High Court on only two occasions, amounting to sixteen weeks of acting experience.

Outside his legal practice, Janisch has served as a trustee of the Kolbe Trust, an NPO/PBO responsible for stewarding and managing Kolbe House. He has also participated in professional and academic forums, presenting papers and serving on panels at conferences, including the Tax Indaba and the Pension Lawyers Association. He has further contributed to the UCT Tax Masters programme.

Janisch also mentors junior counsel and introduces newly admitted counsel to tax work. He has also served as treasurer, secretary, member, and chair of the Cape Bar finance committee.