Our Team
Hanlie Visser
DIRECTOR (B. Juris, LLB, BA, B Hons)
Hanlie obtained her BA Honours degree at the University of Stellenbosch in 1981. After completing her studies she joined Military Intelligence. She resigned after securing a post as lecturer at the University of Namibia, Windhoek. In 1998 she completed the B Juris and LLB degree and was appointed by Gerhard Gous Attorneys, Stellenbosch where she completed her articles. At the end of October 2001 she was admitted as an attorney and shortly thereafter as a conveyancer. Her entrepreneurial skills, competence and ambition paved the way in starting her own law firm Hanlie Visser Attorneys. Her main focus is family and marriage law, litigation in both the Regional and High Court and conveyancing. Hanlie is extremely passionate about her work, performs it diligently and has established her as one of the most noted attorneys in the Helderberg area.
With more than 20 years of experience in divorce law she established a blog called “divorcetalk.” which mainly assists people dealing with divorce issues and divorced women coming to terms with their new status of being single again.
Recently Hanlie realised the need for a more cost-effective way for spouses to get divorced which resulted in “Divorce Online”, a website for uncontested divorces. With Divorce Online, Hanlie assists spouses through the process of obtaining a divorce from the comfort of their homes.
Yolanda Crause
DIRECTOR (LLB, UFS)
Yolanda completed her secondary education in Sasolburg before earning her LLB degree from UFS in 2002. She was admitted as an attorney in the High Court of Bloemfontein in 2004. From 2006 to 2018, Yolanda successfully ran her own firm in Bloemfontein, focusing primarily on debt collection. Her legal career also took her to New Zealand, where she gained experience working at two prestigious law firms before returning in 2020.
Since her return, Yolanda has continued to practice law in Bloemfontein, specializing in debt collection. In 2024, she joined Hanlie Visser’s team, bringing her extensive expertise to the firm.
Geena Mechanicos
ASSOCIATE (LL.B, STELS)
Geena Mechanicos grew up in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, where she successfully completed her high school career.
Enrolling at Stellenbosch University to pursue her studies in law, was a dream come true. In 2017 she graduated with an LLB Degree and returned to her home town, Durban where she commenced with her two-year article ship until she was admitted as an Attorney in the High Court, Pietermaritzburg in 2019. Since Geena fell in love with Cape Town and the Winelands during her studies, she decided to start off her career as an attorney in Cape Town with TSP Inc. When the opportunity arises, she joined the team of Hanlie Visser Attorneys in August 2023 as a Professional Assistant, mainly attending to:
• Family law
• Maintenance matters
• Deceased estates
• Contracts
• Civil law
In her free time, Geena enjoys nature and visiting family and friends.
Alisha De Bruyn
PARALEGAL / CONVEYANCING SECRETARY
Alisha was born and raised in a small town called Barberton in Mpumalanga and matriculated at Barberton High School in 2013.
In 2014 Alisha started working at a Law Firm in Nelspruit as an admin assistant and worked her way up. Today, Alisha has a diploma as a Paralegal. Alisha has been working at Hanlie Visser Attorneys since July 2021 as a Receptionist and Conveyancing Secretary.
Elze Visser
ACCOUNTANT (B-Accounting, STELS)
Elze Visser grew up in Uitenhage where she matriculated at Brandwag High School.
In 2009 she obtained her B-Accounting degree at Stellenbosch University. In 2014, she completed her articles at Moore Stephens and is now registered as a professional accountant with the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA). Elze was the Assistant Financial Manager at Western Gruppe Trading (Pty) from 2015-2017 which is the holding company for 13 Super-Spar stores. In 2018, she joined Protea Financial Services as a Senior Accountant working with their U.S.A client base.
Recently, she was employed as a Financial Manager at Eleni Holdings, a retail holding company for three Spar stores. Currently she is an accountant trading as a sole proprietor and started with Hanlie Visser Attorneys in July 2023.
Elze enjoys playing tennis and spending time with her family in her free time.
Franso Calitz
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR
Franso matriculated at Zwaanswyk High in 1968 and obtained his BA degree in Psychology and History at the University of Stellenbosch in 1972. He taught at Fish Hoek High and Windhoek High School until 1979 when he started his career in the banking sector.
Franso joined Hanlie Visser Attorneys as in-house bookkeeper in 2005 and has since played a major role in the administration and management of the firm. Having completed 61 marathons, including 6 Comrades, 6 ironman competitions, WP colours in athletics, triathlons as well as SA colours in ultra-triathlons, Franso is a keen sportsman at heart. He is also a well know writer and has already published three novels as well as numerous short stories.
ARNO VISSER
CONSULTANT ((BA LLB (UNISA) LLM (STELL))
Intellectual Property Law & Crypto Currency
Arno grew up in Somerset West and matriculated from Somerset West Private School in 2007. In 2013, he obtained his Degree in Viticulture & Oenology (Winemaking) from Elsenburg Agricultural College, followed by his LLB Degree from the University of South Africa in 2018. He further obtained his Master’s Degree (LLM) in Intellectual Property Law, focusing on the impact that Patents, Copyright, Trademarks, and Plant Breeders’ Rights have on the South African Wine Industry.
Arno was appointed as a Candidate Attorney at Hanlie Visser Attorneys in July 2014 and was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa in August 2019. Since 2020, he has also been actively involved in the cryptocurrency industry, serving as Head of Legal at Mesh and currently as Legal Counsel at KuCoin.
Arno assists the firm in an advisory capacity on matters related to intellectual property law, patents, trademarks and crypto currency.
“A child that’s being abused by its parents doesn’t stop loving its parents, it stops loving itself.”
SHAHIDA ARABI
Soanne Ferreira (Professional Assistant)
(LLB (Pretoria), LLM (Stellenbosch))
Soanne grew up in Pretoria where she matriculated from Die Hoërskool Menlopark in 2014
In 2015 she started with her LLB degree at the University of Pretoria, and she obtained her degree in 2018. Thereafter, Soanne moved to Cape Town where she started her LLM degree at the University of Stellenbosch. In 2020 she started with her candidate attorney clerkship with Hanlie Visser Attorneys. At the end of 2021 Soanne obtained her LLM degree and in March 2022 she was admitted as an attorney in the High Court. She also aims to be admitted as a conveyancer during 2022.
Her expertise include:
• Divorce litigation
• Maintenance matters
• Wills & Deceased estates
• Drafting of contracts
Lee-Anne Flack (Candidate Attorney)
Lee-Anne grew up in Somerset West and matriculated from Hottentots Holland High School in 2002.
She worked in Parliament for the Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Lee-Anne published her first book, Constitutional Kids, in 2012. Since the publication of her book, Lee-Anne has given talks and seminars around South Africa, as well as facilitate a Women’s Empowerment Workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam. Lee-Anne obtained her LLB degree from Stellenbosch University in 2016. She then went overseas to travel and teach English in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Hong Kong. After teaching in Vietnam, she went to India to study holistic therapy. Lee-Anne returned to South Africa in 2019 and ran her own holistic therapy business until 2022. She was a Candidate Attorney at Venter Goosen Attorneys until the end of 2022. She became a Candidate Attorney at Hanlie Visser Attorneys in January 2023. Lee-Anne is passionate about Family Law and the protection of Children’s Rights.
