Jurisdictions worked in: South Africa
Languages Fluent in: English

General Legal Advisory and Regulatory Compliance

• Provision of high-quality legal opinions and advice to clients in highly regulated sectors, including, mining, industrial, waste management chemical, e-commerce, food manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure development, energy, land use and planning, and natural resources management, with a focus on regulatory risk management, operational compliance, and navigating complex licensing environments.
• Conducting comprehensive Safety, Health and Environmental legal compliance and permitting audits, assessing compliance with environmental authorisations, water use licenses, air quality permits, waste management licenses, and occupational health and safety legislation, and preparing detailed audit reports with practical recommendations for remediation and ongoing compliance.
• Conducting due diligence for acquisitions and expansions, assessing compliance with health, safety, environmental, and sector-specific legislation to support investment decisions and project development.
• Supporting M&A transactions in the mining, manufacturing, industrial, and energy sectors, including drafting and negotiating regulatory aspects of transaction documents, and managing the amendment or transfer of licenses, environmental permits, and other statutory approvals.
• Drafting and reviewing commercial documents such as share purchase agreements, sale of business agreements, supply agreements, regulatory undertakings, policies, procedures, and internal governance documents.
• Assisting in litigation and regulatory enforcement matters, including those involving product recalls, environmental compliance, administrative disputes, and regulatory violations.

Safety, health and Environment Expertise

• Provide specialist legal advisory services on environmental, health and safety matters to major industrial, mining, and manufacturing clients, supporting regulatory compliance and license to operate retention.
• Advised on various mandates requiring interpretation and application of South African health and safety legislation, including the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Mine Health and Safety Act, and related occupational injuries and diseases compensation regimes.
• On an ongoing basis, assist clients with regulatory authority interactions, responding to and addressing disputes and environmental compliance and enforcement threats, including drafting internal appeals against environmental or mining regulatory decisions, preparing review applications, responding to environmental compliance notices, and defending potential criminal prosecutions regarding alleged environmental transgressions.
• Conduct legal research and prepare high-quality legal opinions on complex environmental, health and safety and other regulatory matters, applying legal principles with due consideration to technical options, operational realities, and business impact.
• Advise on the full spectrum of environmental law including water use authorisations, air quality licensing, waste management, contaminated land, and biodiversity management.
• Advised a leading packaging company on significant environmental enforcement matters, including disputing regulatory authority interpretations of air quality licensing requirements and assisting with business disruptions arising from neighbouring environmental concerns and municipal service delivery failures.
• Advise on the interpretation and application of evolving environmental, health and safety legislation and participate in regulatory engagement processes.
• Part of the Bowmans team assisting a client defending a class action arising from a fire incident during the 2021 civil unrest.
• Advised a leading global mining company on administrative orders arising from amendments to existing environmental authorisations.
• Advised a prominent South African mid-tier producer of PGMs on environmental disputes with neighbouring operations and environmental impact assessment processes for sustainable mining activities.
• Advised a mining giant on environmental authorisation processes, appeals to environmental and prospecting decision-making authorities, defence against competing applications, and implementation of a Biodiversity Offset Agreement with the Northern Cape Department of Environment and Nature Conservation.
• Advised a mid-tier coal mining company on mining and environmental concerns, including objecting to proposed mining activities by neighbouring operations and reviewing environmental impact assessment reports.
• Assisted Anglo American Platinum Limited and its South African business units with external environmental legal and permit compliance audits across various mining operations, supporting carbon neutral and smart mining initiatives.
• Advised Thungela Operations (Pty) Ltd on compliance under applicable environmental laws.
• Advised Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited on the implications of the Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 for environmental law obligations and on whether tailings storage facilities qualified as “dams with a safety risk” under South African law.
• Advised Hans Merensky Holdings Proprietary Limited on duty of care

Sustainability, Climate Change and ESG Advisory

• Advised the South African Reserve Bank on the environmental and sustainability regulatory landscape, including Environmental and Social Governance Frameworks, Environmental Management Systems, climate change resilience, achieving net zero, and sustainable economy initiatives.
• Advised lenders including Standard Bank of South Africa, Absa Bank, and Nedbank on regulatory due diligence for renewable energy and infrastructure projects under the REIPPPP and Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Programme.
• Advised BTE Renewables on environmental qualification criteria, due diligence, and legal opinions for participation in Rounds 5 and 6 of the REIPPPP. Advised a major gold mining company on the implications of the landmark Greenpeace France and Others v. TotalEnergies SE climate litigation judgment (October 2025), assessing potential exposure to similar NGO-driven climate claims in South Africa and implications for corporate climate commitments and disclosure obligations.

M&A, Financing Projects and Due Diligence

• Part of the regulatory team advising on the environmental and regulatory aspects of the acquisition of Nampak Glass for R1.5 billion by Isanti Glass 1 Proprietary Limited (AB InBev subsidiary).
• Part of the Environmental and Regulatory team advising on the M&A transaction between Chep South Africa Proprietary Limited and Braecroft Timbers Proprietary Limited (R220 million), advising on land contamination, permitting, and commercial protections against environmental liabilities.
• Part of the core team acting as counsel to the South African subsidiary of IMR Group in the acquisition of PPC Lime operations, advising on mining, environmental, and empowerment issues throughout due diligence and assisting with regulatory condition precedent fulfilment.
• Advised on the regulatory aspects of the sale of Tongaat Hulett’s wet millers (R5.35 billion transaction).
• Assist a major alternative investment company with a production finance of an Aim-listed minerals company worth approximately $65 Also assisted the same alternative investment company in respect of financing two another mining house – deal worth approximately $300 million and $100 million. Involvement entailed conducting regulatory, mining, empowerment, health and safety due diligence of the borrower and preparation of the transactional documentation.
• Conducted confirmatory regulatory due diligence for lenders on major infrastructure and energy projects, assessing project bankability, regulatory risks, and ensuring authorisations were in place, including advising Standard Bank South Africa on environmental, occupational health and safety, and permitting aspects of gas pipeline development in the Germiston region.
• Part of the Bowmans team that advised on the takeover of operation and management of the Single Buoy Mooring facility, including regulatory due diligence, environmental and regulatory advisory, and drafting and negotiating lift and shift arrangements.

Government Contracting and Procurement expertise

• Advising international, local, listed and unlisted entities in relation to governmental processes, licensing, regulatory, third-party disputes including the application of supplier development programmes in South Africa.
• Part of the Eskom State Capture Task Team, advising on governance, consequence management, and strategic advice on civil litigation proceedings, including engagement with law enforcement officials and advice on criminal matters.
• Advised on disputes regarding Eskom’s right to distribute and supply electricity in municipal areas, addressing regulatory authority and licensing matters.

Food Safety and Product Regulation Expertise

• Advise local and international corporations in respect of the requirements of various consumer protection especially product recalls and product liability.
• Provide general regulatory advice on permitting and compliance requirements for selling, manufacturing, distributing, producing, importing or exporting products such foodstuffs, toys, firearms, drugs, fertilizers, farm Feeds, seeds, agricultural remedies etc.
• Advised Amazon on the launch of its full consumer e-commerce operations in South Africa. Led from a product regulatory perspective a comprehensive, two-stage regulatory due diligence process covering imports and exports, product compliance, consumer protection, electronic transacting, privacy and data protection, liquor licensing, government contracting, and environmental compliance.
• Advised a manufacturer and supplier of cinema seats on whether there any legal requirement in South Africa for cinema seating to be fire retardant.
• Advised a well-known e-hailing company on applicable road transport legislation in relation to the provision of delivery services via its platforms in South Africa. The advice covered regulatory classifications, licensing thresholds, and compliance obligations across multiple service categories.
• Advised an international client on all regulatory aspects of a potential acquisition of a majority stake in a leading e-hailing company operating in South Africa.