In appreciation of her significant contribution to national and international research, Professor Corlia van Heerden has been added to The National Research Foundation's (NRF) list of “B” rated scholars. B-rated researchers are those who enjoy considerable international recognition by their peers for the high quality and impact of their recent research. The NRF rating system is crucial to the foundation’s  goal of building a globally competitive science system in South Africa and the ratings are classified on the basis of an academic’s current research and its corresponding impact (as determined by national and international peers). 

Professor Corlia van Heerden is  the Absa Chair in Banking Law in Africa and is a professor in the Department of Mercantile Law. She  holds the degrees B Proc, LLB, LLM (Civil Procedure, Unisa), LLM (Insolvency Law, UP), LLD (RAU). The title of her LLD-thesis in Law of Civil Procedure is “Voorbereiding vir verhoor ter verwesenliking van die grondwetlike waarborg van ‘n billike siviele verhoor” (Preparation for trial in fulfilment of the constitutional guarantee for a fair civil trial). She is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa and conveyancer. After practicing as an attorney for several years, she was appointed at the University of Johannesburg as lecturer in Law of Civil Procedure in 1995. In 1998, she was promoted to senior lecturer and then to associate professor in 2007. In January 2009, she joined the Department of Mercantile Law at the University of Pretoria as an Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 2015. She is an IMF accredited banking law expert and her current research focus is on banking regulation and credit law.

She has been cited in more than 20 cases, which includes Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Appeal judgments dealing mainly with the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 and Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. Recently, she was  cited by the Supreme Court of Appeal on 13 April 2021 in a long-anticipated decision on the enforcement framework for consumer disputes in terms of section 69 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), as well as dealing with defective motor vehicles.

Prof Van Heerden is very grateful that her research outputs over the years have been rewarded with a B2-rating and regards this as an incentive to further improve her research contribution and rating over the next five years. She plans to continue doing meaningful research and postgraduate supervision and expanding her research contribution locally and internationally, including expanding her research network and collaborations.