The Department of Accounting and Auditing in the Faculty of Management Sciences at CUT in partnership with international audit firm PwC, held their fourth annual Business Ethics Awards on 13 May 2015.  The institutions have been in partnership and hosting the Business Ethics Awards annually since 2012.

The main objective of this competition for BTech (fourth year) students in the department is to raise awareness amongst accounting students regarding various unethical challenges that they might be facing in their career path; enable them to make informed decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas in the work place; equip them for employment in a field that involves various moral dilemmas in both private and public sectors and, assist them to have a better understanding of the environment and society within their profession. “We at PwC, would like to applaud and congratulate you all on delivering innovative, thought provoking and most of all, ethical presentations. It is a pleasure to be associated with an institution that drives excellence and contributes positively to the leadership of our country,” these were the words from Mr Werner Landman, PwC Business Development Manager, during the CUT and PwC Business Ethics awards. The Accounting and Auditing professions worldwide are placing a renewed emphasis on the importance of business ethics.  The course Business Ethics IV (BNE41AB) has become a compulsory module in all the BTech programmes offered by the Department of Accounting and Auditing at CUT. This year, the project forced students to work in groups, think outside the box, track the South African media, read newspapers, learn good time management skills and debate vigorously among team members in a safe learning environment.  Eleven groups consisting of 6 to 8 learners per group entered the competition and three winning teams, as well as the overall best presenter, received gifts and cash prizes sponsored by PwC. 

The topics for presentations ranged from addictive energy drinks, organ donation, corporate monopolies, bread cartels etc., and students could choose any topic relating to a real-life business ethics dilemma. The winning presentations were on: Consumer exploitation with lay-by purchases (3^rd prize) (Buffalos), the abuse of Grand-Pa painkillers (2^nd prize) (Hyenas) and Ethical issues in the hair and beauty industry (1^st prize) (Elephants). The final assessment and selection was done by an interdisciplinary panel of judges consisting of staff members from CUT, University of Free State and PwC, specialising in governance and business ethics. The main evaluation criterion was based on creativity, application of theoretical knowledge and presentation skills. 3rd prize winners received R600 each member, 2^nd prize R800 and 1^st prize R1200. The overall best presenter, Ms Shallott Hlalele from the Elephants group also received R1200! According to Ms Leandi Steenkamp, senior lecturer at the department, CUT is the first and still the only University of Technology in South Africa to become involved in such a project. 

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Front row, from left: 2015 winners: Ms T Ntlanzi, MJ Seqhobane, TS Sobuwa, MC Mahlohla, A Pohlwana and K Phalatse. Back row, from left: Ms Leandi Steenkamp, Senior Lecturer at the department; Mr Werner Landman, PwC Business Development Manager; Mr Adriaan Taylor, Head of the Department, and Ms Sylvia Davis, SAA: Accounting and Auditing.