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Painting by Hérine FourieAndreas van Wyk
Author of standard works on South African law
Rector and Vice Chancellor of Stellenbosch University
1993 - December 2001
Andreas Herculas van Wyk was born on 17 September 1941 in Pretoria.
1960-1964: studied law at Stellenbosch University (BA, LLB, cum laude )
1965-1966: studied at the University of Bonn (Germany) and
1974-1976: at Leyden (LLD, cum laude )
From 1966 until 1984 Andreas van Wyk was attached to the Law Faculty of
Stellenbosch University, from 1978 as Dean and member of the University
Executive. In 1984 he was appointed as director-general of the department of
Constitutional Development and Planning. He occupied this position until his
return to academic life in 1987 as professor of Mercantile Law (particularly
Company Law) and Family Law in Stellenbosch. He was appointed as Vice-Rector
(Operations) of Stellenbosch University
on 1 July 1991 and took over as Rector and Vice-Chancellor on 1 July 1993. He
retired at the end of 2001.
As an academic, Andreas van Wyk has written three standard works on South
African
law and numerous articles on legal matters. As advisor to the South African
Law Commission he was co-responsible for the
drafting of the main provisions of legislation which, in 1984, gave equal
rights to married women.
As head of the Department of Constitutional Development, Andreas van Wyk was
closely involved with various reforms from 1985 to 1986, particularly the
abolition of the pass laws, the introduction of full property
rights for Black South Africans, the rationalisation of the old Department of
Co-operation and Development, the abolition of the Development Boards, the
creation of a new provincial system, the creation of regional services
councils, and the preparatory work for negotiations for a new South African
constitution. Apart from his professional field, Andreas van Wyk is interested in South
African and international politics and economics, and history, on which he
reads widely in eight modern languages (Afrikaans, Dutch, English, French,
German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish).
He also has a strong interest in business, serving on the board of the South
African insurer, the Old Mutual.
Andreas Van Wyk is a full member of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns. He is also a past member of the council of the University of Zululand, the
council of the South African Cultural History
Museum and of the Human Sciences Research Council.
He has been married (since1967) to Magdaleen, (née Krüger), lecturer in Dietetics at Stellenbosch University and
well known culinary author. They have two daughters.
Awards:
He has received various bursaries and awards, including a postdoctoral
fellowship from the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1982), a travel
grant from the United States-South Africa Leader Exchange Programme (1978), the
University of
Leyden's William of Orange medal for exceptional merit (1995), an honorary
degree in law from the Belgian University of Louvain (1997) and the Humboldt
medal for his promotion of scientific cooperation between South Africa and
Germany.
Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SA Academy of Arts and Science):
Honorary member 2006 
As well as many articles in academic journals Andreas van Wyk has published some 55 contributions on law in various encyclopedias. Since 2002 he has been writing a bi-weekly column on legal issues for the Cape Town newspaper Die Burger and for the Johannesburg newspaper Beeld.
Books:
The power to dispose of the assets of the universal matrimonial community of
property. A study in South African law, with excursions on the laws of Brazil
and the Netherlands, (LL.D.- thesis), Pijnacker, Nederland, 1976
Kontraktereg en Handelsreg, (4th edition , with J C de Wet, 1978),
Butterworths, Durban
Family, Things and Succession (2nd edition, van Lee & Honoré with H J Erasmus
and C.G.van der Merwe, 1983), Butterworths
Wie is reg? - Tien jaar se regspunte, Tafelberg, 2012Book contributions:
Students' Legal Aid Clinics, in: Legal Aid in South Africa, University of Natal, 1974
Die funksionering van die wette in ons regspraktyk, in: Op die Skaal: Gemengde Huwelike en Ontug, editors: De Villiers & Kinghorn, Tafelberg, 1984
The legal implications of AIDS, in: Aids in Context: a South African Perspective, (A. van Niekerk, editor and co-author),
Lux Verbi, 1991
Overview in: Spanning the Global Divide: Networking for Sustainable Delivery, School of
Public Management, University of Stellenbosch,1998
Text supplied by Andreas van Wyk
The Old Main Building is the oldest academic building of Stellenbosch University:
Inaugurated in November 1886
Architect: Carl Otto Hager
Law Department
www.StellenboschWriters.com © Rosemarie Breuer
Books
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