Some background on André Kirsten: I am an attorney specializing in Criminal Law.

I obtained my legal degree at the University of the Free State in 1996 and proceeded to complete articles in the Northern Cape in 1997.

Being employed at the NPA as a prosecutor in 1998, I was serving both the district and regional courts in the Eastern Free State up until 2004. During this period I took responsibility and oversaw the overall investigational activities of 2 detective branches who served the areas of my responsibility.

Most charges that generally come through criminal district and regional courts were covered during that time period. In addition to that I was heavily involved in Inquests both formal and informal. Children Court enquiries, maintenance trials and investigations as well as domestic violence applications and prosecutions.

In 2004 I transferred to Bellville Court. I prosecuted in both district and regional courts in Bellville until my resignation in 2005, at which time I joined the team at Legal Aid SA - Cape Town Justice Centre.

I spent the next 10 years at Legal Aid SA and in this period I toured Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Malmesbury and Bellville Justice Centre until my resignation in 2016 at which time I opened my own firm.

During my time at Legal Aid I mostly covered the regional courts and dealt extensively with serious matters like Murder, Rape, Armed Robbery, Fraud and contraventions of the financial institutions act, the bank act and much more.

It deserves to be mentioned that Legal Aid practitioners in general represents the majority of the accused going through the court system, and as a result I dealt with hundreds of trials during this period.

During my employment at NPA as well at legal aid, I attended numerous courses and seminars in the examination and testing of DNA evidence, finger print evidence, ballistic evidence and much more. All in the pursuit of mastering the finer skills when dealing with that special kind of evidence.