Customs specialist joins Shepstone & Wylie

Petr Erasmus has joined Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys in Johannesburg as an associate. He brings to the position a solid background in Customs issues, having joined the Johannesburg Customs office of SA Revenue Service almost straight after school, “starting off right at the bottom,” he told FTW. At about the same time he started studying for his B Proc degree through Unisa and completed this in 2004. He was moved into the Customs legal division at head office in 2007 and went on to complete his LLB in 2008. In 2011 Erasmus served articles at the office of the State Attorney in Pretoria. He passed all his admission exams in one session and was admitted as an attorney early this year. “Once that goal was reached, I’d been with Sars for 16 years and felt it was time to move on – and Shepstone & Wylie was the perfect next step being one of the leading law firms in the customs and excise field,” he said. While 90% of his current responsibilities are customs-related, he’s looking forward to broadening his base. A lover of the outdoors with a penchant for skydiving and other extreme sports including white water rafting, Erasmus has swopped the adrenalin rush of extreme sports for what he believes is the far more rewarding focus of two young children. CAPTION Petr Erasmus … solid background in Customs issues.