DLA Piper has appointed Johannes Gouws as Country Managing Partner for South Africa, to drive the firm's strategy in South and sub-Saharan Africa.

In his role, Gouws will be responsible for establishing and leading DLA Piper's new Johannesburg office and will work closely with Michael Whitaker, COO for South Africa.

Commenting on his appointment, Gouws said: "The South African legal landscape is evolving and DLA Piper will be a strong new force in the market.”

“I am excited to be joining firm at the outset of its development in Johannesburg and, as well as building a first class legal practice locally, will be working alongside the firm's well-established Africa Group in order to build the DLA Piper brand across the continent," he said.

Gouws joins from South African law firm Webber Wentzel where he was a partner in the Corporate practice.

Gouws is an experienced practitioner having held a number of management positions throughout his career, including serving on the board of Webber Wentzel.

Prior to this, he was General Counsel at South African bank, Absa, where he led one of the biggest in-house legal teams in the country.

He started his career at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr legacy firm, Hofmeyr, where he also served on the executive committee and led the firm's Corporate practice.

Gouws specializes in cross-border and domestic mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, corporate finance, corporate law and the resolution of financial institutions.

In recent years he has acted in many of the largest corporate transactions in South Africa, across a range of sectors, including, banking and financial services, insurance, agriculture and retail.

Simon Levine, Co-Global CEO at DLA Piper, said: "We are committed to growing and developing our presence in Africa to provide our clients with the specialist legal services they need in a key growth market. Johannes is an extremely well-regarded and experienced practitioner and is the ideal person to establish and lead our office in Johannesburg."