Peter Grant joined the University of Cape Town’s finance department in 1983, having managed the audit on behalf of C&L since his arrival in Cape Town. He was appointed chief accountant in the early 1990s, the number two position within the department, and has acted in the position of director of finance on numerous occasions. Following a period in which he was deputy director to a major project, funded by the Mellon Foundation, to realign the administrative systems to the core academic functions of the university, he returned to the finance department as head of financial accounting and reporting in 2001, a post has held since. Mr. Grant has also chaired the SA insurance collective for TERISA for the last 10 years.
While the essence of this job is to ensure that the financial systems are operating effectively and that the university is meeting all its reporting requirements, a major focus has been on matters of governance and compliance. As such, Mr. Grant has primary responsibility for risk and audit issues and sits on a number of internal and external committees and bodies.
In his capacity as a member of the Undergraduate Studies Funding Committee, Mr. Grant has become, de facto, the executive with the most detailed knowledge of the financial aspects of financial aid, including the relationship with NSFAS. In addition, he has consulted to the national (South African) Department of Higher Education & Training, particularly in the area of assessing the long-term sustainability of higher education institutions.