Izak Smuts SC

Izak Smuts SC, raised and schooled in Grahamstown / Makhanda, attended Rhodes University where he earned BA, BA (Hons), and LLB degrees and joined the Eastern Cape Society of Advocates in July 1982, where he has practised ever since. His career included serving as honorary secretary, bar council member, and chairman of the Grahamstown and Eastern Cape bars. He was appointed as Senior Counsel in 1998. Smuts SC’s achievements include his co-editing of the Woordeboek van Regs- en Handelsterme, his election as Deputy Chairman of the General Council of the Bar of South Africa, and his representation of the advocates’ profession on the South African Judicial Service Commission. He served for 6 years as chairman of the Eastern Cape advocacy training committee, and taught at a number of international training courses in Oxford, Hong Kong and Nottingham. Smuts SC was a delegate to both CODESA and the Multi Party Negotiating Process. He served as chairman of the Grahamstown branch of Lawyers for Human Rights for 3 years. He has served as an acting judge on 13 occasions. On 6 June 2012 Smuts SC was appointed to the General Commercial Panel of the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa.  Smuts SC served on the editorial committee of Advocate, the journal of the South African Bar for 5 years.  He has been a Rotarian since 1987 and is a member of the Makanakop Shellhole of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats.

Smuts SC was elected to the council of Kingswood College in 2003, and was a member of the council for 15 years, serving as the chairman for 3 years. He served on the committee of the Old Graemian Union from 2020 until 2025, and as its president from 2021 to 2025.