Dr Van Zyl is a Non-Executive Director of Sanlam, and previously served as the Chairman of the Sanlam Board from 2017 to 2020.
Dr Van Zyl joined the Sanlam Group in 2001 as Chief Executive of Santam and was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of Sanlam in 2003, until 2015. Trained as an agricultural economist, his extensive management background includes diverse fields including insurance, financial markets, investments, general business and strategy, human resources, marketing and international business.
Dr Van Zyl is the Executive Director and CEO of Ubuntu-Botho Investments (Pty) Ltd, Sanlam’s strategic empowerment partner, as well as its operating company, African Rainbow Capital (Pty) Ltd. He is also a Non-Executive Director for Rain Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Tyme Global (Pte) Ltd and Tyme SA Holdings, Acorn Agri and Food (Pty) Ltd and African Rainbow Energy and Power (Pty) Ltd.
He holds directorships and associations at Blue Bulls (Pty) Ltd where he serves as the Chairperson, Boland Rugby (Pty) Ltd, the Vumelana Advisory Fund serving as the Chair, Neil Ellis Wines (Pty) Ltd and a number of other businesses and trusts. Dr Van Zyl is also a former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria.
Dr Van Zyl holds a B.Sc, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc, DSc in Agricultural and Economics from the University of Pretoria and a PhD in Economics from the VISTA University.