Capacity: Advocate
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Date of Birth: February 1963
Qualifications: BA (1984) LLB (1986) (Rhodes University)
Key judgments & Appearances:
- Mani and others v S [2024] JOL 65096 (ECB)
- S v Ntuli (22/90) [1990] 160 (30 November 1990)
- Collett v FirstRand Bank Ltd and Another 2011 (4) SA 508 (SCA)
Candidate Bio | Updated March 2026:
Advocate Sally Collet is an advocate and member of the Bhisho Society of Advocates.
She obtained her BA and LLB from Rhodes University. Collett has practised, primarily for the Bhisho Bar, since her admission in 1986 and earned a Certificate in Arbitration from the Association of Arbitrators in 2012.
She has served as acting Judge in the Eastern Cape Division several times since July 2022 and is a former Commissioner of Small Claims Court, a position she held from 1998 to 2009. However, Collett’s legal career expands beyond courtroom representation. She is a member of SAWLA, likely motivated by her early experiences as the only woman at the Pietermaritzburg Bar, where she encountered gender bias and economic marginalisation. At that time, Collett often assisted in criminal pro deo, pro bono appeals, legal aid, and public interest litigation, supporting appeals of clients facing the possibility of a death sentence in the Appellate Division during the late 1980s and early 1990s. While based in the Ciskei after the introduction of their Bill of Rights, Collett built her practice on bridging the gap between criminal law and constitutional rights and eventually developed a civil practice.
Most notable is Collett’s involvement in post-apartheid constitutional expansion and nation-building. During the 1994 democratic elections, Collett served as a legal officer for the Independent Electoral Commission and represented clients before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). She was also invited by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to address concerns about procedural fairness in the TRC process. In later years, Collett represented the Minister of Education in a matter and was appointed as Chairperson of the Labour Oversight Committee to address disciplinary dysfunction within the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Education.
As an acting Judge, she presided over Sibongile Mani v The State, where a college student was charged with theft for the use of erroneous funds credited to her student account. In the appeal, Collett considered the interest of the appellant’s minor children, the likelihood of rehabilitation under appropriate conditions, and other factors to decide that the appeal against the 5-year sentence should be upheld, the sentence suspended for 5 years and replaced with correctional supervision.
Collett has broad involvement and interests that extend far beyond the legal world. She is the founder of Eden Christian Academy Trust, a Christian school in King William’s Town; Unapologetically Female, a women’s empowerment initiative; @AdjournForTea, a YouTube platform that provides access to legal knowledge and mentoring; and is a fierce supporter of autism awareness.
Despite practising as an advocate for 40 years and gaining vast amounts of experience over the years, she has peculiarly still not received Senior Counsel status. It will be interesting to see whether the JSC will take issue with this, as they have in similar scenarios. Nevertheless, it is unquestionable that Adv Collett is deeply committed to bringing constitutionalism, transformation, and access to justice to the Bench.
April 2026 JSC Interview
After deliberations, the Judicial Service Commission has recommended Adv Sally Collett for appointment to the Eastern Cape High Court.