Johan van der Wath has represented South Africa in One-Day Internationals besides appearing on the domestic, club and county circuits. He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler as well as a useful lower order batsman.

van der Wath made his domestic debut in 1995 with the Easterns in South Africa and moved on to Free State and Eagles. In 2005, he joined Sussex as an overseas player for the English season and then moved on to Northamptonshire in 2007. Johan played two seasons of the rebel league before cancelling his own contract. He was then banned by the ECB for the same.

His international debut in ODIs came in 2006 against Australia in the VB series when he replaced injured Jacques Kallis. He retired from international cricket in 2007 without playing a single Test match after South Africa also banned him for participating in the rebel league. Two years later, he was allowed to play for the country again after he ended his contract with the rebel league. In 2011, he joined the Royal Challengers Bangalore for season 4 of the IPL.