Roger Burman (6 November 1953 – 6 January 2025) was a South African lawyer who practised in Johannesburg, where he specialised in property law and became a partner at Bowman Gilfillan. He also served on the boards of Hilton College and other schools and was a trustee of Hope Home, a charity caring for disabled children.
Background
Roger Burman was born on 6 November 1953 in the Free State, an inland province of South Africa whose capital is Bloemfontein. He was raised on a farm under modest circumstances, according to a 2025 obituary published in The Witness newspaper. Farming shaped much of the Free State's rural economy, and the family background described in that obituary reflects the agricultural setting of the province.
He died on 6 January 2025, and his death was reported by The Witness.
Education
He matriculated at Christian Brothers College in Bloemfontein. The college belonged to the Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching congregation founded in Ireland in the early nineteenth century by Edmund Rice. The congregation's South African schools began with a college in Kimberley in 1897 and later expanded to other cities, including Bloemfontein, and the Bloemfontein college remains a Catholic independent school today.
Burman came to Pietermaritzburg in 1973 to study law at the then-University of Natal. The university had been established in 1949 and operated campuses in Durban and Pietermaritzburg; it was later merged into the University of KwaZulu-Natal. At university he served on the Rag committee, the student body that organised charity fundraising, and was known by the nickname 'Rag Dad' because he was considered more responsible than his colleagues.
A professional networking profile also lists a B.Com. and an LLB in law among his qualifications.
Burman spent his professional life in Johannesburg, where he practised with Bowman Gilfillan Hayman Godfrey Inc. That firm traces its history to a 1998 merger of three firms: Bowman Gilfillan Hayman Godfrey, established in 1902, Findlay & Tait, established in 1885, and John & Kernick, established in 1923. The merged firm was later known as Bowmans and is today counted among South Africa's 'Big Five' corporate law firms.
A professional networking profile dates his association with the firm to 1980, when he worked as a property lawyer. He later became a director, and the obituary records that he eventually became a partner. His practice was described as covering general practice, corporate, commercial, taxation, real estate and deceased estates law, while the obituary emphasises his specialisation in property law. Property law concerns rights in land and buildings and the transfer of those rights between owners.
Achievements
Represented the South African Schools hockey team and played provincial football.
Was one of the founders of the 'Ballies Bus', an annual trip from Johannesburg to Hilton College for the school community on the eve of the school's derby match.
Membership
Burman's later service was concentrated in education and charitable work, and he served on the governing board of Hilton College, a boys' boarding school near the town of Hilton in KwaZulu-Natal. The school was founded in 1872 by Gould Arthur Lucas and Reverend William Orde Newnham as a non-denominational Christian boys' school. Its grounds passed to former pupils in 1903, and today the school is owned by the Hiltonian Society, a non-profit company.
He also sat on the board of Pridwin Preparatory School, a preparatory school in Johannesburg. For twenty-five years he was a trustee of Hope Home, which cares for disabled children.
Former deputy chair of the board of governors
Hilton College
,
South Africa
2004 - 2016
Board member
Pridwin Preparatory School
,
South Africa
Trustee for twenty-five years
Hope Home
,
South Africa
Interests
He continued playing hockey in later years at the Wanderers Club, a sporting club in Johannesburg.
References
The Witness: Obituary, Roger Burman
Newspaper obituary describing his upbringing in the Free State, schooling at Christian Brothers College, law studies at the University of Natal, property law career in Johannesburg with Bowman Gilfillan, and board service at Hilton College, Pridwin Preparatory School and Hope Home.
