The student conference formed part of the professional development of internal audit students. The theme for this year’s conference was Risk Management and Control.

A two-hour networking session, during which 275 internal audit students of UP had the opportunity to meet with representatives of well-known companies and practitioners, such as Eskom, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, IIA (SA), KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, formed part of the conference.

Well known speakers, such as Ms Linda Yanta, ESKOM General Manager: Corporate Audit, addressed risk management and control in general and Dr Claudelle von Eck, CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa (IIA SA), motivated the delegates with a talk on the strategic imperatives for the internal audit profession.

The key note address during the conference was presented by Mr Brad Sadler, the founder of Pros and Excons. At the age of 38, he was convicted of fraud and corruption totalling R50 million and was eventually sentenced to four years in prison. After serving 14 months, he was released on parole. His story reached into the lives of young men and woman when he spoke about the consequences of fraud and corruption.

The motivational speaker was Dr Cival Mills, who was in a serious car accident and was diagnosed with Locked-in Syndrome. His message was never to regard something in your personal life or career as impossible.