Obtained an MB ChB and an M Med (Surgical) degree at the University of Pretoria Medical School. Also received a Fellowship in Surgery from the College of Surgeons of SA.
Started my career as Academic Surgeon at the Medical School, University of the Free State, where I received the trophy for best lecturer in clinical medicine (7 times).
From 1996 to 2015, I was Chief Specialist/Full Professor and Head: Department of Surgery, Medical School, UFS. I served as an exco member of the Surgical Research Society of SA for twelve years; a council member of College of Surgeons of SA; a member of the Exco Board of the UFS School of Medicine; and Exco Member of the Association of Surgeons of SA.
From 2011 to 2013, I was President elected of the Association of Surgeons of SA and on 41 occasions External Examiner: Invited to all Medical Schools in RSA.
I have a special interest in breast cancer and spent 1988 in Nottingham, England, as a research fellow in Breast Cancer. I delivered 110 scientific papers at local, national and international forums; published 25 full-length articles in national and international scientific journals and five chapters in medical books.
I am now retired and live in Bloemfontein, but I spend a week per month on the family farm in the Karoo, where we farm with merinos. I also have a farm in the Smithfield district that belonged to my mother’s family , where we farm with Bonsmara cattle. I am married to Christine (nee Du Plessis) and we have two children, Janelle (a medical doctor), and Pieter (CA).