He joined the judiciary as a judge of the Eastern Cape Division in 1994 and was elevated to the apex court by President Jacob Zuma.
[citation needed] Thereafter he attended Stellenbosch University, where he completed a BA in 1974 and where he was influenced by Johan Degenaar, a political philosopher on the faculty.
[3] Froneman served his pupillage at the bar in Pretoria but, upon his admission as an advocate, he moved to Grahamstown, Eastern Cape to commence legal practice there.
In May 1996, Froneman was appointed as deputy judge president of the newly established Labour Courts, in which capacity he deputised John Myburgh.
The interviews proceeded smoothly for Froneman, who was directly complimented on his progressive philosophy by commissioners Jeff Radebe and Dumisa Ntsebeza,[4] and he was among the seven candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted for the vacancies.