Michael Vermaak

Michael Vermaak is a Partner in the Corporate Department and a member of the Public Law and Regulatory team at Bowmans in Johannesburg, specialising in environmental law, regulatory compliance, and transactional advisory. He has nearly 20 years of experience advising clients on environmental permitting, licensing and authorisation requirements, pollution and contamination liabilities, and administrative appeals and enforcement actions by environmental authorities.

Michael has provided environmental and regulatory advice to lenders and developers under the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, including projects that have reached financial close such as Gouda Wind Farm (140MW), Amakhala Wind Farm (140MW), Hopefield Wind Farm (65MW), Sishen Solar Project (81MW), and Loeriesfontein 2, Khobab, and Noupoort Wind Projects. He has also advised on environmental and regulatory issues in numerous M&A and commercial transactions across the mining, industrial, infrastructure, agriculture, and consumer goods sectors. His practice extends to advising on pollution and contaminated land liabilities, director and shareholder environmental liabilities, and risk mitigation strategies for clients including national and international mining companies, financial institutions, power utilities, and environmental consultancies.

Michael holds a BSc (Hons) and an LL.B from Rhodes University. He has been consistently ranked in Band 2 for Environmental Law by Chambers Global (2017–2026), with clients describing him as "one of the top environment lawyers" who is "very knowledgeable and understands the law".