About
Elza Cilliers — Social Worker in Private Practice
Elza Cilliers is a social worker in private practice with forty years' experience, specialising in criminal and family law. She holds a BA (SW) from the University of Pretoria. Her career progressed from government departments — the Department of Social Development (formerly the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions) and the Department of Correctional Services — through the NGO sector, into independent private practice since 2013.
That statutory grounding now informs her private work on inter alia Criminal Justice and Family Law.
Practice Areas
Criminal Law
- ●Pre-Sentence Reports
- ●Pre-Trial Reports
- ●Bail Applications
Family Law
- ●Urgent High Court applications for the removal of minor children
- ●Investigations regarding parental rights and responsibilities, guardianship and primary residence
- ●Termination of parental responsibilities and rights
- ●Application of guardianships
- ●Requests to emigrate and take minor children
Background
Elza qualified with a BA (SW) at the University of Pretoria and has practised across forty years in government departments, the NGO sector and now in independent private practice since 2013. Earlier in her career she served as a probation officer and as a correctional officer, compiling correctional-supervision reports inside the state criminal-justice system. That statutory grounding now informs her private work on pre-sentence and pre-trial assessments.
Qualifications & registration
- ●BA (Social Work) — University of Pretoria
- ●Registered Social Worker — SACSSP No. 10-10609
- ●TIR Facilitator — Applied Metapsychology International (AMI) and TIR Association (TIRA, USA)
Experience with the courts
Reports compiled and submitted to Lower, Regional and Higher Courts, both in Criminal and Family Law.
Practice philosophy
The role of the social worker before the court is not to advocate for an outcome but to give the bench a complete and honest picture of the person, the conditions that shaped the offence, and a defensible view on capacity for change. The orientation is rehabilitative, the method evidence-based.
Working with Elza
Instructions are accepted directly from legal practitioners and from private clients. Each matter starts with a brief intake call to confirm scope, timeline and fee.
Get in touch