Advocate of the High Court of South Africa · Pretoria Society of Advocates · Group 33 Advocates
ADVOCATE JOHAN WESSELS
Commercial and insolvency litigation informed by experience as an attorney, finance executive and counsel.
PROFILE
Adv AJ (Johan) Wessels brings to commercial litigation the perspective of an advocate who previously practised as an attorney and held both legal and executive responsibility within a finance business.
He was admitted as an attorney in October 1997 and spent close to nine years in attorneys' practice before joining Bridgelink Finance as chief legal adviser in 2006. In that role, he worked with credit transactions, agreements, risk assessment, debt recovery and regulatory compliance. He became chief executive in 2007, assuming responsibility for the business's strategy, funding, operations and relationships with shareholders, investors and banks. He returned to attorneys' practice in 2010 as a director of AJ & C Wessels Inc.
Admitted as an advocate in March 2015, he now practises from Group 33 Advocates in Pretoria. His work is centred on insolvency, commercial and contractual disputes, trust litigation and administrative law, together with related property and civil litigation. He acts for creditors, liquidators, business rescue practitioners and debtors in liquidation, sequestration and business rescue proceedings. His wider commercial work includes disputes involving credit facilities, loan agreements, security, construction contracts and financially distressed businesses.
In 2026, he served two periods as an acting judge in the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, including in the dedicated Insolvency Court. Two judgments delivered during his acting service are available on SAFLII and appear separately below.
He is an Associate of the Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa), serves on its panels of court-annexed and private mediators, and is listed on the AFSA Garden Route provisional panel of arbitrators. He holds BProc and LLB degrees from the University of the Free State and practises in English and Afrikaans.
Judgments Delivered as Acting Judge
Adv Wessels served as an acting judge of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, in the first and third terms of 2026, sitting in the dedicated Insolvency Court and in the default judgment courts. The following judgments delivered during his acting service are available on SAFLII.
Fourie NO and Another v Naude NO
(2025-183510) [2026] ZAGPPHC 571
Gauteng Division, Pretoria, 22 May 2026 · Wessels AJ
A provisional-sequestration application concerning whether payments to a company's former director founded a liquidated claim under section 9(1) of the Insolvency Act.
The court held that, on either construction of the evidence, the payments were loans or misappropriations rather than dispositions requiring a prior setting-aside order. A liquidated claim and standing were established. The respondent's written admission that he could not repay constituted an act of insolvency, and the prospect of an insolvency enquiry and investigation of his income established a potential advantage to creditors. A provisional sequestration order was granted.
FirstRand Bank Limited v Bahwiti Investments CC (Leave to Appeal)
(2025-145315) [2026] ZAGPPHC 928
Gauteng Division, Pretoria, 17 July 2026 · Wessels AJ
An application for leave to appeal against a provisional winding-up order, addressing appealability, statutory service requirements and disputed interest.
The court held that section 150 of the Insolvency Act applied to the provisional winding-up order and rendered it not appealable. It nevertheless addressed the remaining grounds, including the effect of incomplete service under section 346(4A), the competence of provisional relief where final relief had been sought, and whether a dispute over part of the interest removed the creditor's standing. Leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.
At a Glance
1997: admitted as an attorney
2015: admitted as an advocate
2020: founding member of Group 33 Advocates
2026: acting service in the Gauteng Division
AAArb | Qualified Mediator
Languages
English | Afrikaans
Chambers and Contact
Group 33 Advocates, Room 0-4, The Wedge, 43 Garsfontein Road, Waterkloof, Pretoria
Office: 087 183 9227 | 012 001 4374 · Mobile: 083 661 4216
Email: johanw@weslaw.co.za
Personal assistant: Santie Wessels | santie@advocatesa.co.za | 087 183 9231
Briefs are accepted through instructing attorneys.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Griessel NO and Others v De Kock and Another
[2019] ZASCA 95; 2019 (5) SA 396 (SCA)
Supreme Court of Appeal, 6 June 2019
With F H Terblanche SC, for the appellants
Instructed by Strydom & Bredenkamp Inc
A family-trust dispute concerning the protection of a contingent beneficiary, access to trust property, the appointment of an additional trustee and punitive costs.
The trustees appealed against orders reinstating a potential beneficiary's rotational access to a game farm, directing the appointment of an additional independent trustee and awarding attorney-and-client costs. The SCA recognised that a contingent beneficiary who has accepted benefits is protected against arbitrary and discriminatory treatment. It found no basis for the additional-trustee order, set aside the punitive costs order and directed each party to pay its own appeal costs.
Imobrite (Pty) Ltd v DTL Boerdery CC
(M506/19B) [2020] ZANWHC 67
North West Division, Mahikeng, 11 June 2020
For the applicant
Instructed by Leahy Attorneys
A secured creditor's winding-up application addressing whether a bondholder may seek liquidation rather than execute against its security.
Imobrite advanced R2.75 million against a notarial bond and first mortgage bond and sought the close corporation's winding-up after default. Adv Wessels succeeded on the preliminary issues of standing and the National Credit Act, but the application was dismissed as an abuse of process because the creditor was fully secured. The SCA subsequently rejected that approach, set the order aside and placed the respondent under provisional winding-up. Different counsel appeared in the appeal.
Rogal Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Victor Turnkey Projects (Pty) Ltd
(53473/2021) [2022] ZAGPPHC 167
Gauteng Division, Pretoria, 28 March 2022
For the applicant and intervening parties
Instructed by Van Greunen & Associates Inc
A building-contract dispute concerning a creditor's standing to challenge business rescue and seek the contractor's winding-up.
After cancelling its building agreement for breach, Rogal claimed damages and challenged the contractor's voluntary business rescue. The court held that an unliquidated claim may make a party a creditor and affected person under Chapter 6 of the Companies Act, found that the rescue proceedings had terminated when the plan was finally rejected, and placed the company under provisional winding-up.
Road Accident Fund v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service and Another
(019721/2025) [2025] ZAGPPHC 336; [2025] ZAGPPHC 357
Gauteng Division, Pretoria, 26 March and 22 April 2025
With C Louw SC, for the applicant
Instructed by Mpoyana Ledwaba Inc
Urgent interim relief restraining SARS from recovering a R5.1 billion Eskom settlement sum from RAF levies pending an intergovernmental dispute process.
The High Court found that the RAF had established the requirements for interim relief and restrained the deductions pending the resolution of the declared intergovernmental dispute. SARS's subsequent application for leave to appeal was refused because the interim order was not appealable.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
-
University of the Free State · BProc
1996 – 1996
-
Symington & De Kok Attorneys, Bloemfontein · Articles
1996 – 1998
Articles served from October 1996 to February 1998.
-
High Court of South Africa · Admitted as an attorney of the High Court
1997 – 2015
Admitted on 9 October 1997.
-
Paola Du Plessis & Van Der Merwe, Kroonstad · Attorney
1998 – 2001
-
University of the Free State · LLB
2001 – 2001
Completed while in practice.
-
AJ Wessels Incorporated, Kroonstad · Attorney
2001 – 2005
-
Cilliers Odendaal Attorneys, George · Attorney
2005 – 2006
-
Bridgelink Finance, Pretoria · Chief Legal Adviser
2006 – 2007
Worked with credit transactions, agreements, financial-risk assessment, debt recovery, regulatory compliance and advice to the board.
-
Bridgelink Finance, Pretoria · Chief Executive Officer
2007 – 2010
Led the company's strategy, funding, operations and business development, including relationships with shareholders, investors and banks.
-
AJ & C Wessels Inc, Pretoria · Director
2010 – 2014
Returned to attorneys' practice as a director of the firm.
-
High Court of South Africa · Admitted as an advocate of the High Court
2015 – Present
Removed from the roll of attorneys at his own request and admitted as an advocate on 16 March 2015. Completed pupillage and passed the National Bar Examination in October 2015.
-
Group 33 Advocates · Founding member
2020 – Present
Member of Group 33 since its establishment in November 2020.
-
AFSA Garden Route · Provisional panel of arbitrators
2023 – Present
Appointed to the provisional panel in 2023.
-
Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria · Acting Judge
2026 – 2026
Sat in the dedicated Insolvency Court from 23 to 27 February 2026, where the opposed winding-up application in FirstRand Bank v Bahwiti Investments CC was argued; judgment was reserved and the provisional order delivered on 25 May 2026. Sat in the trial default judgment and special default judgment courts from 13 to 17 July 2026. Judgments in Fourie NO v Naude NO (22 May 2026) and FirstRand v Bahwiti (leave to appeal, 17 July 2026) are on SAFLII.
-
Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) · Associate (AAArb)
2026 – Present
Associate membership approved in March 2026, with entitlement to the post-nominal AAArb.
-
Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) · Qualified Mediator
2026 – Present
Included on the Association of Arbitrators' panels of court-annexed and private mediators following accredited training and independent assessment.
ADMISSIONS
- Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, 9 October 1997 (removed from the roll at own request, 2015)
- Advocate of the High Court of South Africa, 16 March 2015
MEMBERSHIPS AND PANELS
- Pretoria Society of Advocates
- Group 33 Advocates, Pretoria (founding member)
- Associate, Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa), AAArb
- Association of Arbitrators panels of court-annexed and private mediators
- AFSA Garden Route provisional panel of arbitrators