Suresh Kana 2011

DOCTOR OF COMMERCE (HONORIS CAUSA)

Suresh Parbhoo Kana was born on 17 January 1955. He obtained his BCom degree in 1975 from the former Durban Westville University, his honours degree from Unisa in 1978, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SA) in 1979. As a keen intellectual, Suresh furthered his higher education to obtain his MCom from Wits University in 1986.

In 1976, Suresh was the first black professional to join the then Coopers and Lybrand and played a key role as national HR Director in the later PricewaterhouseCoopers' transformation. He currently serves as a trustee on the governing board of the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Thuthuka Bursary Fund, aimed at increasing the access of black graduates to the Chartered Accountancy profession.

He became involved with SAICA's committees in 1993 and for many years chaired its Auditing Standards Committee, responsible for the development and issuance of auditing standards in South Africa. From 2003 to 2005 he was also a member of the Accounting Standards Board, responsible for the setting of accounting standards for use in the public sector. Suresh served as a member of the GAAP Monitoring Panel, set up to investigate complaints about the accounting practices of JSE-listed companies and report findings to the JSE Listings Division, from its inception until the end of 2005.

He was elected to serve as a board member of the International Audit and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) of the International Federation of Accountants which he did from 1995 to 2003. The IAASB is the body responsible for independently setting International Standards on auditing and assurance standards used by the auditing profession across the world. These standards play an important role in ensuring the quality and uniformity of external auditing practices, and strengthen public confidence in financial reporting.

Suresh has made notable high-level contributions to issues of governance and accountability in the business world. He is convenor of the Accounting and Auditing sub-committee of the well-known King Committee on Governance in South Africa, a director of the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA) as well as the National Business Initiative, and serves on the Audit Committee of both these organisations. In the financial field, he has served on the Boards of Appeal for the Financial Services Board Act, Stock Exchanges Control Act and the Financial Markets Control Act.

He has wide experience in a variety of industries and has been involved in the audits of companies like Group Five, Afrox, Guardian National, and the Anglo American Properties Limited Group. He has also acted as relationship partner on the audits of listed companies like MTN, Naspers and the FirstRand Group.

Suresh is currently the Territory Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer for PriceWaterhouseCoopers Southern Africa, Senior Partner for the PWC African Region and serves on the PWC Strategy Council.  He served on the PWC Global Board from 2005 to 2009.

His interest in academic work is demonstrated by his professorship at the University of Johannesburg and the post of Honorary Professor at the Centre of Accounting at the University of the Free State. He is co-author of Corporate Reporting, now in is 7th edition.

His own history of making progress against considerable odds is part of the driving force to ensure that the future of the Accounting profession reflects the full spectrum of South African society. Suresh lives in Johannesburg and is married to Kalpana and they have two girls and two boys.

In recognition of his unique contribution to the development of the Accounting profession and governance practices in South Africa and globally, it is an honour for NMMU to confer the degree of Doctor of Commerce (honoris causa) on SURESH KANA.