Van der Walt was born on 15 February 1934 in Pietersburg, Northern Transvaal, South Africa.
He was the son of Johannes Jacob van der Walt and Maria Jacoba de Klerk.
He was appointed as Rector of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education on 1 May 1977 and retired on 31 December 1988.
[6] [7][8] South Africa in the era prior to 1994, when the first democratic election was held, had a "homeland" policy.
One of these "homelands" or Bantustans was Bophuthatswana and Van der Walt was the last South African Ambassador to serve there.