P. M. Cillié

Petrus Malan Cillié QC (20 August 1915 – 20 October 1996) was a South African jurist, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa and Judge of Appeal.

Early life and education

Cillié was born in Brandfort, in the Orange Free State province. He spent his childhood in Johannesburg and matriculated from Helpmekaar High School in Johannesburg. He enrolled for a BA degree in Law at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1932. After completing his LLB at University of the Witwatersrand, he went to England and completed his LLM degree in Law at Cambridge University. He passed his Tripos exam with a second-class average.

Career

Cillié joined the Johannesburg bar in 1938, but did not immediately start practising as an advocate. He first worked as a broadcaster at the South African Broadcasting Corporation for a time, having gained experience with the SABC's British counterpart.

Cillié was also regularly appointed chair of commissions of inquiry. He first led a commission in 1956, investigating the state of hospitals in the Transvaal province.

Cases against the press were also handled by Cillié. He is remembered for the case against The Rand Daily Mail editor Laurence Gandar and senior reporter Benjamin Pogrund about false publications on the state of South African prisons. Both accused were convicted on two charges of publishing false allegations and not 'verifying' the facts. Gandar was fined R100 on both charges and Pogrund received two three-month suspended sentences.

Other involvement

He was appointed as the State President's elected candidate on the board of the University of the Witwatersrand from 1959 to 1973. He was also a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand. During the same period, until before his death in 1996, he served on the Transvaal Rugby Union's disciplinary committee.