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Advocate Tandisa Tyuthuza

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  • Advocate Tandisa Tyuthuza

Capacity: Advocate
Admitted as Advocate: May 2015
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Black
Date of Birth: January 1987
Qualifications: LLB (2011) (Stellenbosch University)

Key Judgments and Appearances:

Candidate Biography | August 2026:

Advocate Tandisa Tyuthuza is a practising Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and a Member of the Northern Cape Society of Advocates.

Advocate Tyuthuza has a formidable reputation for both her meticulous courtroom advocacy and her prolific output as an acting judge.

Breaking barriers as the first black female advocate to complete her pupillage and establish chambers at the Northern Cape Society of Advocates, Tyuthuza obtained her LL.B from Stellenbosch University in 2011. She commenced her career as a research assistant to the South African Property Law Chair at Stellenbosch in 2009.

Tyuthuza gained crucial public sector experience working as a Legal Officer for the Northern Cape Department of Health (2011-2012) and the Department of Roads and Public Works (2012-2014), where she managed contract drafting, procurement compliance and public litigation. After completing her pupillage in 2015, she established a private practice at the Kimberley Bar, specialising in commercial litigation, administrative law, labour law, family law and land restitution. She has served as a Member of various legal organisations, including as a Board Member of the Northern Cape Consumer Court since 2018.

Tyuthuza has accumulated an extraordinary level of judicial experience, serving six separate terms as an Acting Judge of the Northern Cape High Court between 2023 and 2026. During these acting stints, she wrote dozens of judgments across a wide range of complex civil, criminal and labour disputes.

As junior counsel, Tyuthuza played a key role in the landmark Land Claims Court case of Isaacs v Government of the Republic of South Africa. The case addressed the restitution of historical land rights for families dispossessed under racially discriminatory apartheid laws, providing a contemporary legal reference point on land justice.

On the bench, Tyuthuza has demonstrated sharp legal acumen and independence. In the criminal appeal of Van Wyk v The State, she co-presided over a matter where the appellant challenged his convictions for rape, kidnapping and assault. She demonstrated careful and independent evaluation of the evidence, correcting a material error in the rape conviction while upholding the convictions for kidnapping and assault.

In the labour and administrative law dispute of Matlala v Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, Tyuthuza presided over an application brought by the municipal manager challenging his precautionary suspension. Tyuthuza ruled that the municipal council had acted unlawfully by suspending the applicant (Matlala) without complying with the necessary requirements. She emphasised that the manner in which the suspension was carried out infringed the applicant’s rights and disregarded the respondent’s statutory obligations.

In Henderson v The State, Tyuthuza presided over a high-stakes bail appeal where she was tasked with determining whether the appellant, facing charges of murder and attempted murder, had established “exceptional circumstances” under Section 60(11) of the Criminal Procedure Act. Meticulously applying the statutory requirements, she dismissed the appeal, holding that the appellant’s personal circumstances, including business commitments and family ties, did not outweigh the interests of justice and public safety, especially given the state’s strong prima facie case.

Tyuthuza’s impressive and prolific judicial record across 76 weeks of acting experience makes her a strong candidate in the fight to secure a permanent seat on the bench. She represents a dynamic, modern and transformative candidate for the Northern Cape High Court bench.