Wits honours top accounting students

Prize winners (from left): Eleanore Angelinaidis, Shruthi Thomas, Ali Zain Ul-Abedin, Dusan Ecim and Arson Malola pictured with SAICA’s Northern Region Executive, Wela Swana.

“It is a seven-year commitment to become a CA(SA),” says Teboho Moephudi (project manager of SAICA’s university projects). “Therefore, keeping students on track is a top priority. One way to do this is to foster a culture of excellence and competitiveness by recognising academically talented students who consistently perform at their best and achieve top marks. This is what Wits’ School of Accounting’s annual awards ceremony does.”

SAICA honoured the following students for achieving the highest marks in their Bachelor of Accounting Science year and passing all their required courses on the first attempt:

• Eleanore Angelinaidis and Shruthi Thomas: jointly awarded prizes for the highest marks in first year
  
• Ali Zain Ul-Abedin: For the highest marks in second year
  
• Dusan Ecim: For the highest marks in third year
  
• Arson Malola: who was awarded two prizes from SAICA for the highest marks in fourth (and final) year of study and the award for most outstanding Bachelor of Accounting Science graduate, after he achieved the highest aggregate mark for his year. (Malola was also acknowledged for being the top performing African student in SAICA’s January Initial Test of Competence Examination sitting – coming third in the country in this, the first of two, qualifying board examinations.)

Speaking at the event, Head of School, Nirupa Padia reiterated that Wits’ mission is to achieve the highest standard of academic excellence while also preparing students for the working world. She also acknowledged the efforts of all the staff within the School’s team for their significant passion and commitment that makes it possible to create the calibre of results and students that the university produces every year.

Speaking to the top achievers, Padia urged them to stay in South Africa so that, as the business leaders of tomorrow, they could be the difference the country needs to make the place better for future generations.

Guest speaker Neil Morris, director of climate change & sustainability services at KPMG, added, “Thanks to today’s evolving and changing world, students looking to enter the profession here in SA must expect the unexpected, as the days of the boring, grey-suited CAs are over.”

SAICA, Deloitte, EY, PWC, Grant Thornton, KPMG, BDO, SizweNtsalubaGobodo, ACCA, LexisNexis, Investec, Bain & Company and the Wits School of Accountancy sponsored prizes.