A formal function to officially launch the programme was hosted by the Department of Auditing on 19 June 2012 at Kya Rosa on the Hatfield Campus of the University of Pretoria.

Attendees at the function included Prof Cheryl De la Rey, Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, and Prof Carolina Koornhof, Executive Director of the University of Pretoria, as well as Prof Nick Schoeman, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Prof Nick Binedell, the Dean of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), Dr Claudelle von Eck, CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors (South Africa), Mrs Reinette van der Merwe, Head of Internal Auditing at Absa, Mrs Celestine Munda, Senior Director at Ernst & Young and Chairperson of the Centre for Internal Audit Excellence’s Advisory Board and various senior staff members of the University of Pretoria, as well as senior internal auditors in practice.

The MPhil Internal Auditing degree will be presented in cooperation with GIBS and the Erasmus School of Accounting and Assurance (ESAA) in the Netherlands, which is also a Centre of Internal Audit Excellence and financially supported by Absa. As a financial institution, Absa notes that there is an increased world-wide demand for professional internal auditors owing to the scarcity of auditing skills, especially at a senior level where individuals are required to not only be extraordinary internal auditors, but to hold their own on various other spheres within any organisation. This degree aims to equip senior internal auditors with the latest skills and knowledge through a multi-disciplinary approach to fulfil a leadership role in the internal audit profession.

The MPhil is the first course work master’s degree specialising in the field of internal auditing in South Africa. Candidates enrolled for this degree will receive expert training from some of the best South African and European internal auditors and business academics.