[1] In 1996, while studying towards her LLB, Phatshoane was a legal researcher to Justice Pierre J. J. Olivier, a judge of appeal in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa.
[1] She lectured part-time in advanced labour law at the University of the Free State between 2006 and 2009,[2] and she was an acting judge in the High Court's Northern Cape Division in 2010.
[1] On 10 May 2011, President Jacob Zuma announced that, on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, Phatshoane would join the Northern Cape High Court bench permanently, with immediate effect.
[4][5] At an early stage of the trial, Phatshoane dismissed the defendants' application for her recusal, finding no merit to their argument that she had demonstrated herself to be biased in her ruling against their acquittal.
[8] The sentencing was delayed after Block lodged a complaint against Phatshoane with the Judicial Service Commission, alleging that her judgement had been improperly influenced by Frans Kgomo, the Judge President of the Northern Cape Division.
[2] In April 2017, as Kgomo's retirement approached, Phatshoane was one of two candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted and interviewed for potential appointment as Deputy Judge President of the Northern Cape Division.
However, those interviews, held in October 2017, were also disrupted by allegations of interference by former Judge President Kgomo, who had written to the Judicial Service Commission to outline Pakati's shortcomings of intellect and temperament.
[1] In February 2021, the Judicial Service Commission announced that it would embark on a fourth attempt to fill the Deputy Judge President position and, on that occasion, Phatshoane was the only shortlisted candidate.
[23] Justice Minister Ronald Lamola also suggested that it would be a "setback" for gender equality in the judiciary if Phatshoane left her leadership position in the High Court.
[23] On the latter point, Phatshoane argued – with the support of commissioner Tembeka Ngcukaitobi – that it was not fair for women to be "locked up" in their positions and that her elevation would in fact promote gender equality.
[24] At the conclusion of the interviews, the Judicial Service Commission announced that it would recommend filling only two of the vacancies, endorsing Shane Kgoele and Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane for elevation.