Kollapen rose to prominence in the 1980s as a human rights lawyer in his hometown of Pretoria, especially as instructing attorney in several high-profile apartheid-era political trials.
[1] They moved to Laudium, a recently established Indian township, which Kollapen later characterised as "the District 6 of Pretoria, with a mixed-race community, and in many ways a glorified slum".
[citation needed] After his graduation, Kollapen returned to Laudium and began his legal career as an articled clerk at the firm of Savage, Jooste and Adams in Pretoria.
[8] In 1991, he joined the permanent staff of Lawyers for Human Rights,[9] and he became the organisation's national director in January 1995, succeeding Brian Currin;[8] he held that position until the end of 1996.
[3] For the last seven years of his tenure, he was the commission's chairperson,[7] appointed to that position by Mandela's successor, President Thabo Mbeki, in October 2002.
[9] In January 2010, shortly after his departure from the commission, he accepted appointment as an acting judge in the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa.
[4] He was again recommended as suitable for elevation, but the results of the selection process were nullified following a challenge by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution.
[14] In October 2021, the Judicial Service Commission re-ran its April 2021 interviews; commentator Eusebius McKaiser said that, despite offering "occasional stylised little soliloquies", Kollapen made a strong impression.