A University of Johannesburg (UJ) academic and chartered accountant made history on Wednesday when she graduated with a PhD in accounting.
Dr Modi Hlobo is the first black staff member of the UJ’s school of accounting to graduate with this degree.
The degree programme is more than 50 years old. It was offered as doctor of accounting at UJ’s predecessor, the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU).
When RAU merged with the Technikon Witwatersrand and the Soweto and East Rand campuses of Vista University to become UJ in 2005, the degree was renamed PhD in accounting.
The 47-year-old academic from Rockville, Soweto, who left the corporate sector to teach, sat on boards of state enterprises. She now sits on the boards of JSE-listed companies.
She said she had often wondered what framework the public sector was using to screen board members of state-owned enterprises.
“The Zondo commission also confirmed that we need to look into how non-executive directors of state enterprises are screened,” she said.
She said in her study she also looked at the best process internationally to develop her framework for South Africa.
Head of the school Prof Amanda Dempsey said the school has 120 employees. “She is our first black academic staff member to graduate with this degree.”
Describing the moment when Hlobo took to the stage to receive her qualification, Prof Bettine Janse van Vuuren of the school said: “There was a standing ovation from all the graduates and their guests, and the entire academic procession. I have never seen this happen before.”
Hlobo’s supervisor Prof Tankiso Moloi said he hopes her framework will be used to screen and evaluate non-executive directors in state-owned enterprises.
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