It was touch-and-go whether the start of his career in the student leadership structures of the NWU’s predecessor, the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (PU for CHE), would be a non-starter because of a pair of denims.

In the late 1970s and early 80s, alumnus Bert Sorgdrager, now chairperson of the NWU’s Convocation and recently elected vice-chairperson of the NWU Council, paved the way for relaxing the dress code on campus.

 

“In those days, men had to wear a jacket and tie to class, but I was often seen in a denim on campus, which was prohibited.”

 

His much-loved denims nearly cost him his candidature as a member of the student council at the former PU for CHE.

 

When he visited his girlfriend on a Sunday at the Heide ladies’ residence wearing a denim, the fat was in the fire, and the student council refused to accept his nomination as a candidate for the next student council election. Fortunately his appeal was successful and his nomination accepted.

 

A born leader

 

From 1977 to 1981, Bert served on the first house committee of the Villagers men’s residence, where he was the primarius for two years, and also served on the student council. That was a golden opportunity, he says, to prepare him for the legal profession, while at the same time starting a deep-rooted relationship with the university.

 

Bert has represented the Potchefstroom Campus alumni in the NWU’s Alumni Association since 2012, and has been the chairperson of the association since 2014.

 

That is by no means his only leadership role. He has served on the NWU Council since June 2017, and is the chairperson of Council’s Student Oversight Committee and a member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Investment Committee.

 

Bert was elected president of the Convocation in August 2018. A month later, he became a member of the Executive Committee of the Council. In November 2020, he was elected vice-chairperson of the Council.

 

NWU connection runs in the family

 

Bert was born and raised in Potchefstroom, attended ML Fick Primary School, and matriculated from Hoër Volkskool in 1976. He completed his BJuris (1979) and LLB (1981) at the former PU for CHE, where his father, Prof Albert (Sorgies) Sorgdrager, was on the staff of the Faculty of Economic Sciences.

 

He met his wife, Mara, during Rag when he was the primarius of Villagers and she the primaria of Heide.

 

The couple’s children, Albert and Mariëtte, both completed their undergraduate and master’s studies at the NWU. Albert is currently a design engineer in Austria and Mariëtte is busy with her postgraduate teacher’s certificate, also at the NWU.

 

A career in law and banking

 

After Bert had completed his articles at the firm Couzyn, Hertzog and Horak in Pretoria, he was admitted as an attorney in 1986. He subsequently taught law at the former Technikon RSA (which later merged with Unisa), and during that time published two students’ textbooks.

 

Bert has been in banking for most of his career. Initially he was a legal adviser and later occupied various management positions in credit risk. He was appointed as group legal adviser for litigation and disputes at the Nedbank group in August 2012. He also acted as the chief legal adviser for Nedbank on more than one occasion.

 

Bert stays active in his community in Roodepoort, where he and his wife currently live.