In 1994 Johan started lecturing part time and since 1998 he is a full time lecturer at the UFS. He lectures several theoretical and practical courses from the first year to honours level and has been promoter and co-promoter for three M.Sc. students.
Johan has a PhD. in Inorganic Chemistry and in his research he specialises in the oxidative addition reactions of organotransition metal complexes. He publishes internationally and presented papers at several conferences, both local and international. At the SACI convention of 1996 he received the award for the best contribution during the conference. He is a member of the SA Chemical Institute, the SA Crystallographic Society and the SA Council for the Natural Science Professions..
For him the popularising of science lies close at heart and Johan has been deeply involved in the development and presentation of the department’s much sought after Chemagic shows at schools and other gatherings.
Companies in the private sector frequently consult Johan regarding the application of chemistry and this activity has led to several technical reports.
Publications include mechanistic studies involving organometallic complexes, reports on new crystal structures, as well as a few on analytical chemistry.
Elmakki, M.A., Koen, R., Drost, R.M. and Venter, J.A., (2-oxopyridinolato N-oxide-k2O,O`)dicarbonylrhodium(I), C7H4NO4Rh, Zeitschrift für Kristallographie - New Crystal Structures 231(3): 703-705 (2016).
Elmakki, M.A., Koen, R., Alexander, O.T., Drost, R.M., Venter, G.J.S. and Venter, J.A., Carbonyl(2-oxidopyridinolato-N-oxide-k2O,O`)(triphenylphosphine)rhodium(I), C24H19NO3PRh, Zeitschrift für Kristallographie - New Crystal Structures 231(3): 781-783 (2016)
Purcell, W., Conradie, J., Venter, J.A., Kumar, S., Characterisation and oxidative addition reactions for different iridium cod complexes, Journal of Coordination Chemistry 70:1: 10-24 (2017).
Belay, A.N., Venter, J.A., Roodt, A., The crystal structure of Triphenylphosphineoxide-2,5-dichloro-3,6-dihydroxycyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione(2/1), C42H32Cl2O6P2, Zeitschrift für Kristallographie - New Crystal Structures 232(2): 163-164 (2017).
Elmakki, M.A., Alexander, O.T., Venter, G.J.S. and Venter, J.A., The crystal structure of carbonyl(2-oxopyridin-1(2H)-olato-k2O,O`)(diphenylcyclohexylphosphine-kP)rhodium(I), C24H25NO3PRh, Zeitschrift für Kristallographie - New Crystal Structures 232, 831-833 (2017).%3