The 31-year-old has been on the sidelines for weeks with a hamstring injury but is no back to full fitness.
Outside van der Walt are centres Zander du Plessis and De-an Ackermann, while Munier Hartzenberg will wear the No. 14 jersey, with James Verity-Amm at fullback and Prince Nkabinde on the other wing.
Louis van der Westhuizen captains the side from hooker as regular captain Victor Sekekete is not in Amsterdam due to a facial fracture.
The men from Bloemfontein face difficult conditions in Amsterdam, with Storm Goretti predicted to drop temperatures down to minus 4 degrees on Sunday afternoon.
The Cheetahs require back-to-back wins to stay in the Challenge Cup. They travel to France to face Racing 92 next week.
Cheetahs - 15 James Verity-Amm, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 De-an Ackermann, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Prince Nkabinde, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Marco Janse van Vuren, 8 Gideon van der Merwe, 7 Sisonke Vumazonke, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Curtley Thomas, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen (c), 1 Dux Manyama.
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Frankie Dos Reis, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Arno van der Merwe, 21 Neels Volschenk, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Michael Annies.